Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Jupp Heynckes … Ademola Lookman

The credit cards of those Bayer Leverkusen fans who made the schoolboy error of flocking to the Dublin city-centre tourist trap that is Temple Bar before Wednesday night’s Big Vase final weren’t the only thing associated with the travelling Germans to ship a serious spanking. After being relieved of their money by local landlords, Leverksen fans made their way to the Aviva Stadium to see their team take a similarly brutal beating, going down 3-0 to Atalanta and losing their famous 51-match unbeaten run in the process. On Big Website, Amine Adli had declared that neither he nor his Leverkusen teammates could “remember what it’s like to lose a game” and it’s difficult to know quite how the striker could have tempted fate more. Adli and co were issued a stark reminder, with one of the Championship and Premier League’s forgotten men Ademola Lookman emerging as the Italians’ unlikely hero after scoring all three goals.

Rather than boo their underperforming rabble on and off the presentation rostrum in the wake of a fairly inept display, Leverkusen’s fans showed they’ve forgotten how to lose as well and seemed to take defeat in their stride. With victory in the league already boxed off, everything else is just soße and if Xabi Alonso’s men can rally to beat second-tier Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final on Saturday they can at least claim an invincible domestic double, which would be no mean feat for the fabled team of bottlers previously nicknamed “Neverkusen”. “For me, the result today does not change one bit how I feel about my players or what we have been doing,” tooted Alonso in his post-match natter. “It hurts because we wanted to lift the trophy but you can’t have everything. We lifted the Bundesliga and we have the chance to lift the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.”

Having lost the Coppa Italia final to Juventus last week, Atalanta went into this game as serious underdogs, with the Serie A club hoping to win their first shiny pot since 1963 and end a three-final losing streak under their 66-year-old manager Gian Piero Gasperini. They did just that in fine style, with Lookman channelling his inner Geoff Hurst to score a sublime hat-trick in a final to win Big Vase for a club that has massively over-achieved during Gasperini’s eight years in charge. “I am hugely proud for all of Italy, because it was a cursed trophy, even if it was only Inter and Roma who made the final over the last 25 years and lost,” cheered the Italian. “Having won it with Atalanta is perhaps one of those footballing fairytales that very rarely happen and it does show there’s still room for meritocracy in football.”

For Lookman, the final could scarcely have gone much better and in scoring a hat-trick straight out of the top drawer, the former Charlton, Everton, Leicester and Fulham winger became the first player since 1975 to score a hat-trick in a European final, joining fellow journeymen Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás and Jupp Heynckes in achieving the feat, even if it did take some time to track down the match ball after the final whistle. “It’s one of the best nights of my life,” declared the 26-year-old, upon being asked to confirm that, yes, this was in fact his finest nocturnal hour. Football Daily and everyone else waited with bated breath for the penalty-kick follow-up queries, which sadly went unasked: “What were the other ones, Ademola? And what on earth were you doing that put those nights up there with this one?” Now it seems we’ll never know.

“I am in an odd situation sort of like where I am married with children, but meet an absolutely beautiful woman. Maybe that’s not a good example for me to say on television” – married Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, a target for the managerial vacancy at Napoli and who also has children, hits the nail on the head with the latter half of his statement.

Thanks to our friends at the Guardian Print Shop, we are giving away more David Squires cartoons. To enter, just write us a letter for publication below. We will choose the best of our letter o’ the day winners at the end of each week and that worthy winner will then be given a voucher for one of our top, top cartoonist’s prints. And if you’re not successful, you can scan the full archive of David’s cartoons here and buy your own. Terms and conditions for the competition can be viewed here.

With reference to the choices facing Kieran McKenna (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), it is nice of Rishi Sunak to call his snap general election and throw the prime minister’s position into the mix for the Ipswich boss to choose from. Given Todd Boehly and co’s history, he might as well take over at Chelsea and still have enough time to get the boot, then campaign and become PM” – Vivekanand Muthukrishnan.

Did Sunak really stand in a rainstorm and get soaking wet just to avoid being called the ‘Wally with a Brolly’?” – Noble Francis.

While it is quite the honour, especially after the success of the film, for Mary Fowler and Christine Sinclair to join the Barbie family (yesterday’s Quote of the Day), I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that, with trademark Teutonic efficiency, the Germans were trailblazers in this regard. After all, they had their own lifesize Thomas Doll with realistic ‘footballing action’ and brushable hair way back in the 1980s” –Derek McGee.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Derek McGee, who now has the chance to win a David Squires cartoon from our print shop at the end of the week. Terms and conditions for all this can be viewed here.

Not content with that dampest of squibs to launch the Tories’ ill-fated election campaign, prime minister Rishi Sunak has followed up with a trip to the Vale of Glamorgan brewery, asking workers whether they were “looking forward to all the football” at the Euros this summer. Which, given Wales were dumped out in the playoffs, is quite the bold gambit.

Plans for an independent regulator for English football will not proceed further through parliament, with the governance bill paused due to the election.

West Brom have suspended an employee and launched an investigation following allegations of racism.

While you were sitting around, waiting, doing nish, Bayern were out, making moves, closing on a deal for Vincent Kompany to take over as manager.

Relegation is clearly the way forward, then: Darrell Clarke has left League Two-bound Cheltenham Town for the Barnsley hot seat.

Next up at Manchester United … Thomas Tuchel?

Meanwhile, with David Moyes fresh out the door marked Do One, Julen Lopetegui has been named as West Ham’s new head coach, and is joined by five of his backroom staff. “We came here with the idea and the thought to make a big, big noise,” Pavarottied the Spaniard. “I feel we have a fantastic platform.”

In a seemingly rare win for Loyalty, transfer guru Dougie Freedman will stay as Crystal Palace’s sporting director (admittedly with a new bumper contract) after turning down an approach from Newcastle.

But back comes Meh, with Bologna coach Thiago Motta choosing to leave the Big Cup qualifiers and take the reins over at Juventus.

And famed orator Wayne Rooney has been snapped up by the BBC for their Euro 2024 coverage alongside former England teammates Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Hart – as well as Cesc Fàbregas, David Moyes and Brentford ­manager Thomas Frank.

Our sister email’s latest edition is a zinger, courtesy of this interview with Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez, who talks tactics, his mindset and Saturday’s Women’s Big Cup final against Lyon. Sign up here to get the full newsletter.

Julen Lopetegui is already getting a fair bit of slack and hasn’t even hung his coat up yet. Jacob Steinberg on why the Spaniard has a point to prove and analyses some of his priorities this summer.

What do Manchester City owe their FA Cup run to? Will Unwin has the answers.

Simon Burnton on the managerial merry-go-round: eight men who could be in new jobs very soon.

One of those very men, Kieran McKenna, may well be off to Chelsea or Brighton. Nick Ames wrote this on what makes the Northern Irishman tick.

Graham Ruthven grades the USA USA USA owners in Europe, from Aston Villa (A) to Manchester United (F).

Harry Kewell and Hernán Crespo in a Big Cup final … no, John Duerden is not writing on Istanbul 2005, but the second leg of this year’s Asian final, as Al-Ain ready for another clash with Yokohama.

And calling all fans off to Germany for the Euros: how long are you going over for? Will you be working “from home”? Where are you staying and how much is it all going to cost? Get in touch via this link.

Either some Football Daily readers or USA USA USA fans at the 2002 World Cup in Daegu, South Korea, before the grudge group-stage match between the pair. It ended 1-1, Ahn Jung-hwan cancelling out an opener from Clint Mathis. “I think a draw tastes a little bit poor for us as I think we deserved to win 3-1 or 4-1 because we created such beautiful chances,” sniffed Guus Hiddink, whose team still went one step further by reaching the semis.