I must confess, I never expected Atalanta to win from the early stages, but when they ran riot on Liverpool at Anfield, I had an eye on them and when they got to the final, I knew they'd be no pushovers. I knew Leverkusen were the favourites and I never expected the scoreline, but I knew Atalanta had a big chance of winning that final and they did. They played exceptionally. Didn't allow Leverkusen much space in behind. It's a season to remember for Atalanta I must say.
That's normal because from the start we only focused on a few big and highly probable clubs like Liverpool and Leverkusen even for Serie A clubs I believe Milan and Roma's chances are higher which makes Atalanta less of a concern because after all they are a dark horse for this competition.
But on the other hand, actually from the beginning also when in the last 16 phase we must have believed and even many discussions that in the end the Europa League is always unexpected.
So with this in mind it's actually quite difficult to accept Atalanta as champions this season but then again Europa League surprises have happened in recent seasons so this is what makes me not too surprised by the surprises that occur even though I didn't expect it because in the last final bet I had to lose because I was fighting for Leverkusen.