Bayer Leverkusen's 51-game unbeaten run came to an end as Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hat-trick for Atalanta, who won the Europa League final 3-0.
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Xabi Alonso's team simply ran out of steam after a phenomenal season with Lookman running them ragged, opening the scoring with a back-post finish on 12 minutes before doubling the advantage with a stunning curling effort 14 minutes later.
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He wrapped up his famous treble with a powerful left-footed strike that flew into the top corner meaning he became the first player to ever score a hat-trick in a Europa League final.
After storming to their first Bundesliga title, Leverkusen's hopes of their own treble are over although they can secure a domestic double by beating Kaiserslautern in the German Cup on Saturday.
For Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini, this was the first major trophy of his long career - an overdue success. Victory also gave Atalanta only the second trophy in their 116-year history, over six decades after the Bergamo side had won the Coppa Italia.
What Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso said:
Xabi Alonso admits Bayer Leverkusen's first defeat of the season against Atalanta in the Europa League final is 'painful'.
"Normally it happens earlier in the season, but when it's the first one in such a big game, it hurts for sure.
"We need to deal with this pain in a positive way; try to transform it into good energy for the next thing. It's football.
"The normality is not to get defeated in the 52nd game. It's been quite exceptional what we have achieved and we have to be really proud.
"Today is painful, but it's deserved as well."
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Atalanta have won their first ever major European trophy - they're the 10th different Italian side to do so, second only to sides from England (13).
Lookman's hat-trick for Atalanta was the sixth to be scored in a major UEFA final. It was the first since Jupp Heynckes' for Borussia Mönchengladbach against FC Twente in 1975, which was the only other one to be scored in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final.
Aged 66 years and 117 days, Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini is the fourth oldest manager to win a major European trophy after Raymond Goethals (71y 231d, 1993 UEFA Champions League), Jupp Heynckes (68y 16d, 2013 UEFA Champions League) and Alex Ferguson (66y 142d, 2008 UEFA Champions League).
This was the biggest margin of defeat for a German team in a major European final match since the 1993 UEFA Cup, when Borussia Dortmund lost 3-0 to Juventus in the second leg. In single-game only finals, it's the biggest margin of defeat for a German team since Eintracht Frankfurt lost 7-3 to Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup.
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat since their final game of the 2022-23 season (0-3 vs VfL Bochum) - they had been unbeaten in all 51 of their matches in all competitions this term before tonight (W42 D9).
What's next?
Atalanta end their season with two Serie A matches, the first of which is at home to Torino on Sunday; kick-off 5pm. They then host Fiorentina on Sunday June 2; kick-off 5pm.
Bayern Leverkusen's final match of the season is against second-tier Kaiserslautern in the DFB Pokal final in Berlin on Saturday; kick-off 7pm.
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