Bayer, with 51 games without losing in all competitions and with the Bundesliga title as a 'calling card' (it ended a decade of Bayern Munich dominance), lands in Dublin as the favorite to lift the Europa League trophy, although Atalanta also promises to present arguments, especially after leaving Liverpool, who were the big favorites, along the way.

While the Germans, under the leadership of Spaniard Xabi Alonso, will play their third European final, and already have a UEFA Cup on their resume (1987/88), the Italians are debuting in this type of game, but are led by Gian Piero Gasperini, who is in his eighth consecutive season at the club and is already considered a 'legend' in Bergamo.

In this sense, Alonso can also pull rank, since he is leading Bayer Leverkusen in their best season ever in 119 years of existence, and it is not over yet.

In addition to the Bundesliga, and having become the first team without defeats in an edition of the competition, Bayer also has the Europa League and the German Cup final with Kaiserslautern, from the German second division.

This will be Leverkusen's third European final, after the success against Espanyol in 1987/88 and the disappointment in the Champions League in 2001/02, in the 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid, made famous by the goal that went down in history by Frenchman Zinedine Zidane.

To reach the capital of the Republic of Ireland, Bayer won all the games in Group H and, in the round of 16, dispatched Qarabag again (they had already met in the group), following West Ham and Roma.

In all the qualifiers, against Azerbaijanis, English and Italians, Xabi Alonso's team was just minutes, and even seconds, away from that first defeat of the season, but they were always saved in stoppage time with the three clubs.

Atalanta, on the other hand, had a more consistent qualification (Sporting can attest to that) and came to be seen as a possible winner of the competition when they eliminated Liverpool in the quarter-finals, imposing a 3-0 at Anfield Road.

Before, Group D, forcing Sporting to the 'play-off', and successfully met the 'lions' again in the round of 16.

In the 'semis', Marseille fell by the wayside, a team that had eliminated Benfica in the 'quarters'.

Among the figures, Bayer highlights the young midfielder Florian Wirtz, who is pointed out as the great hope of Germany in Euro2024, which the country will host, while at Atalanta the forward Gianluca Scamacca, an Italian international, gained new life, after having been lost in England.

The 25-year-old has six goals in the competition, half of them scored against Sporting.

The final will take place at the Dublin Arena, a venue with a capacity for 51,000 people and which will host the second final, after in 2010/11 it was the stage for the all-Portuguese Europa League final between FC Porto and Sporting de Braga, which the 'dragons' won 1-0.

The referee of the match will be the Romanian István Kovács.