The referee for this weekend’s FA Cup final has been announced, and it’s Andy Madley, the same referee who had the whistle when Manchester United lost 7-0 to Liverpool in March last year. Madley was also the referee when Brighton thrashed United 4-0 at the end of the 2021/22 season.
Has Andy Madley refereed a Manchester Derby before?
Yes, Madley was in fact also in charge of the City v United league clash a couple of months ago (March 2024) at the Etihad, which the former comfortably won 3-1.
Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman joined the rare group of players to get a 10/10 rating from L’Equipe as his hat trick helped the Italian side beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final in Dublin.
L’Equipe player ratings Atalanta Bayer Leverkusen UEL final
Lookman got a 10/10- the best on either side, while Granit Xhaka got a 2/10 player rating from the French paper.
A 9/10 manager rating for Gasperini while his opposite number Xabi Alonso got a 4/10. This was the first time Leverkusen had been beaten in any competition in the 23/24 season.
Here is a look at the xG (expected goals) stats from Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen (Crowd attendance of 47,135 on May 22, 2024). A stunning 3-0 win for Atalanta- Leverkusen suffered their first defeat of 23/24 in the process.
Atalanta completely shut Leverkusen out, and that’s reflected in the xG. Ademola Lookman also got a perfect 10 rating from L’Equipe for his UEL final performance.
xG Atalanta 0.82-0.43 Leverkusen shots map
1-0 Lookman first goal vs Bayer Leverkusen xG 0.33
2-0 Lookman second goal vs Leverkusen xG 0.05
3-0 Lookman third goal vs Leverkusen xG 0.08
Time of shots for both teams (ten shots each)
Atalanta: 8′, 12′ (goal), 19′, 26′ (goal), 32′, 43′, 75′ (goal), 79′, 81′, 85′
Bayer Leverkusen: 19′, 29′, 35′, 45+1′, 59′, 80′, 82′, 83′, 90+2′, 90+4′
Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Match Stats for comparison
7 of Atalanta’s 10 shots were on target, but only 3 of Leverkusen’s 10 were.
(ATA match stats on left; BAY 04 match stats on right)