Arsenal vs Barcelona LIVE: Underdog Gunners make history with stunning Women’s Champions League win
Arsenal 1-0 Barcelona: Stina Blackstenius grabbed the only goal and the Gunners valiantly clung on to become European champions for the first time in 18 years
Stina Blackstenius struck a late winner as Arsenal shocked two-time holders Barcelona 1-0 in Lisbon to dramatically claim their second Women’s Champions League title.
Arsenal withstood a flurry of Barca chances before Swedish star Blackstenius broke the deadlock in the 75th minute when she latched onto fellow substitute Beth Mead's reverse pass in a crowded penalty area and fired a low diagonal shot past goalkeeper Cata Coll at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Renee Slegers’s Gunners, who were making just their second appearance in the final for 18 years having won Europe's top competition in 2007, held on for a stunning victory to the delight of their 5,000 travelling fans.
The win comes against a mighty Barcelona team playing in their sixth final in seven years and who had hoisted the trophy in three of the past four campaigns. Saturday’s defeat was just their fourth loss of the season across all competitions.
Chloe Kelly grateful for Arsenal journey after being in a ‘dark place’
Chloe Kelly expressed her gratitude to Arsenal for giving her the chance to revive her career after going from a “dark place” on the bench at Manchester City to winning the Women’s Champions League in the space of four months.
The England international rejoined Arsenal on loan from Manchester City in January, having been frozen out by her former team and struggling for playing time.
Kelly credited Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers for helping her get her “happiness” back and she played a key role in their Champions League triumph in Lisbon.
Chloe Kelly grateful for Arsenal journey after being in a ‘dark place’
Ian Wright claims Women’s Champions League triumph saved Arsenal from ‘embarrassment’
Ian Wright believes Arsenal deserve a parade for winning the Women's Champions League after the "embarrassment" of the men's side failing to win any silverware.
Arsenal beat favourites Barcelona 1-0 at the Estadio Jose Alavade thanks to a 74th-minute goal from Stina Blackstenius which secured the Gunners their first European trophy in 18 years.
The men's side reached the semi-finals of the Champions League before losing out to Paris Saint-Germain and are set to confirm second place in the Premier League on the final day of the season.
"It's saved the club," former Arsenal striker Wright said on TNT Sports of the Women's Champions League triumph.
"The embarrassment of not winning anything this season when we've played so well with the men. The ladies have saved the club. We've got something to celebrate.”
Ian Wright claims Women’s Champions League triumph saved Arsenal from ‘embarrassment’
How Renee Slegers and Arsenal masterminded the ‘game of our lives’ to take down Barcelona
The game plan was prepared, the video analysis had been cut and the tactics board was set out, ready to go. The substitutes, including the two players who would combine to become Arsenal’s match-winners, had received their roles for the week before the Women’s Champions League final: they would pretend to play like Barcelona, to deploy their shape in training and replicate their attacking movements, rotations and overloads against Arsenal’s starting line-up.
Arsenal felt ready as they arrived at the Jose Alvalade Stadium. On the day of the club’s biggest game in a generation, against the best team in the world, there was a sense of calm. They were relaxed and knew the work had been done.
But having a plan is one thing, executing it is another.
How Renee Slegers and Arsenal masterminded the ‘game of our lives’
Arsenal make history in Champions League thanks to the dream that never died
Inspired by the past, Arsenal made more history in the Women’s Champions League and pointed the way to the future. Against the odds, and after surviving everything Barcelona threw at them, they are champions of Europe again. The only English women’s club to win the competition does so 18 years on from their previous appearance in the final, and the scoreline remained the same: Stina Blackstenius rose from the bench, was played in by another substitute in Beth Mead, and fired Arsenal to the title while dethroning Barcelona.
Arsenal’s season was in disarray in September when they lost their opening game of the Champions League group stages 5-2 to Bayern Munich and head coach Jonas Eidevall departed days later. In Lisbon, Renee Slegers could observe a season that has not just been saved, or resurrected, but will go down as their greatest ever. In their biggest game of a generation, Arsenal showed their resilience again. “You struggle together, you suffer together, you find ways to win,” Slegers said. “We’ve done that.”
Arsenal make history in Champions League thanks to the dream that never died
Will Arsenal hold a trophy celebration after winning Women’s Champions League?
Arsenal will hold a victory celebration outside the Emirates Stadium on Monday after sensationally winning the Women’s Champions League for the first time in 18 years.
The Gunners stunned holders Barcelona in Lisbon as Stina Blackstenius delivered the suckerpunch after the English side survived long spells of pressure.
The victory is Arsenal’s first European title since 2007 and they are the first English women’s side to win the Champions League since that trailblazing squad.
Now, Renee Slegers and her players will celebrate with a trophy lift in Armoury Square, which is just outside the club’s Emirates Stadium in North London.
Will Arsenal hold a trophy celebration after winning Women’s Champions League?
Arsenal captain Kim Little reveals emotional significance of Champions League triumph
Captain Kim Little said Arsenal had to be “perfect” to beat Barcelona to win the Women’s Champions League as the club’s longest-serving player soaked in a moment she described as the best of her career.
Little first joined Arsenal in 2008, the year after the club became European champions by winning the 2007 Uefa Women’s Cup, a success the Gunners have now finally emulated by beating Barcelona in Lisbon.
“It's very special for me,” Little, 34, said. “ I've been at the club a very long time and we have had incredible periods where we have been successful. The club won it in 2007 and I signed the year after that.”
Arsenal captain Kim Little reveals emotional significance of Champions League triumph
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers reveals she predicted Champions League-winning goal
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers revealed she predicted Stina Blackstenius’s Women’s Champions League-winning goal after her second-half substitute scored in the 74th minute of their 1-0 Lisbon final victory against Barcelona.
The Gunners remain the only English team to lift the trophy, doing so for a second time 18 years after they became the first as part of an historic quadruple-winning campaign.
And it was a decision by the 36-year-old head coach that proved especially prescient as Blackstenius’ fellow replacement Beth Mead provided the pinpoint pass to tee up the Sweden international.
“I was joking with Beth after the game, I was like, ‘I told you, give the ball to Stina and she will score’,” Slegers told DAZN.
“No, it’s not that easy. You do everything you can, you make decisions all the time, players on the pitch and also on the sidelines, getting the timing right.”
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers reveals she predicted Champions League-winning goal
Arsenal hero Stina Blackstenius on her impact in the Champions League final
Arsenal’s goalscorer Stina Blackstenius:
"I just can't believe it - all of it. It was such a team performance from the very beginning until the very end and I just can't believe it - we won the Champions League and we get to celebrate it . It hasn't sunk in yet.
“I'm so happy I could give a goal today. They said I should try to run in behind and try to stretch them but this is, once again, a big, big team performance. I'm so proud of our journey, how we came here and how we managed the game today."
Kim Little: 'It felt like our year'
Arsenal captain KIm Little, who joined Arsenal in 2008 - a year after they last won the Women’s Champions League
“It felt like our year, and the game today was the same thing. It went our way. We played the game the way we wanted, and it went our way.
“In the other games we had two legs, so we had time to adjust. Today we knew it was one game and we had to executive our gameplan, we had to stop them and manage the space well, and the whole team did that incredibly well today, I’m so proud.”
Arsenal make history in Champions League thanks to the dream that never died
Inspired by the past, Arsenal made more history in the Women’s Champions League and pointed the way to the future. Against the odds, and after surviving everything Barcelona threw at them, they are champions of Europe again. The only English women’s club to win the competition does so 18 years on from their previous appearance in the final, and the scoreline remained the same: Stina Blackstenius rose from the bench, was played in by another substitute in Beth Mead, and fired Arsenal to the title while dethroning Barcelona.
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