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.
Where to tune in for Arsenal vs Barcelona
With the title on the line in a much-anticipated showdown between two of Europe’s best, here’s how you can watch it live:
TV channel: Viewers in the UK can catch all the action live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage starting from 4pm.
Live stream: Subscribers to TNT Sports can also stream the match live via the Discovery+ app or website.
Additionally, the game will be available to stream for free on DAZN’s Women’s Football YouTube channel, no subscription required.
Live blog: Be sure to follow every moment as it happens with The Independent’s live match blog, bringing you real-time updates, analysis and reaction.
Highlights: Thanks to our partnership with DAZN, you’ll also be able to watch free highlights on the DAZN Women’s Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
Aitana Bonmati: 'Now we are the team to beat'
Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati, the Ballon d'Or winner in 2023 and 2024, said the experience gained from previous finals was invaluable.
The Spanish side have been through tough defeats, particularly when Lyon were winning the Champions League eight times between 2011 and 2022.
Barcelona had yet to beat Lyon when they met last year in the Champions League final, but they overcame them to become the dominant force.
"I've learned a lot of things. It is the path that has fallen to us. The first final in Budapest was an inexperienced team that was going to see what happened. Now we are the team to beat," she said.
"Knowing how to be, knowing how to suffer is very important. And never giving up. We have had finals where we have come back. We have had games of all colours.”
'Arsenal in the final for a reason'
Although Barcelona are strong favourites to hoist the women's Champions League trophy on Saturday for the fourth time in five years, they will be taking nothing for granted.
Barcelona play Arsenal at Lisbon's Estadio Jose Alvalade and while the London side were the 2007 champions and once regulars in the competition's latter stages, the pendulum has now swung heavily in the Spanish side's favour.
Barcelona players have made 48 collective appearances in Champions League finals, while Mariona Caldentey is their only Arsenal player to have featured in the final, playing in five for Barcelona between 2019-24.
"A final is unpredictable. There may be things you can't control," Barca midfielder Alexia Putellas told reporters. "We know we can do it. It is true that Arsenal are a great team and that they are in the final for a reason."
How Mariona Caldentey elevated Arsenal on road to Champions League final
When Arsenal approached Mariona Caldentey in the summer of 2024, it was with occasions like Saturday’s Women’s Champions League final in mind. A three-time European champion with Barcelona, and a World Cup winner with Spain, the midfielder was seen as a figure with the talent, work ethic, charisma and trophy cabinet to help Arsenal to the next level.
Her final game for Barcelona came in Bilbao, as they defeated Lyon to retain the Champions League. A year on, the last game of her first season at Arsenal will culminate in another Champions League final, this time against her former side.
Just as Arsenal hoped, Caldentey has been pivotal to their run to their first Women’s Champions League final since 2007.
How Mariona Caldentey elevated Arsenal on road to Champions League final
'We were the best team in the world'
Although the landscape of women’s football has developed significantly, the significance of the 2007 triumph still runs through Arsenal now. Leah Williamson, part of the club’s academy since the age of nine, was a mascot and walked out alongside the team before they became European champions. Little first joined Arsenal in 2008, so has spent her entire career chasing the goal of appearing in another European final. Kelly Smith, the legendary Arsenal and England striker, is part of the current coaching staff.
Jayne Ludlow captained Arsenal in 2007 and explains how they were “programmed to win”. Success was not just demanded but expected. “I’m proud to say that the club has always supported the women’s team extremely well,” Ludlow says. “The success in 2007 was recognition of this investment and support, but, in all honesty, was [just] another trophy for us. The win reinforced what we believed: that we were the best in the world.”
‘It can start the cycle over’: Arsenal’s Champions League inspiration is their own past
When Kim Little leads Arsenal out onto the pitch at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, the first step they will have to face is believing they belong there. On the other side, Barcelona by now expect to be appearing in Women’s Champions League finals, as the all-conquering Spanish team target a third European title in a row and a fourth in five seasons.
Arsenal can’t afford to think too much about their opposition. Barcelona are the best team in the world and progressed to the final by demolishing Chelsea, the best in England, 8-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. That Chelsea finished 12 points ahead of the Gunners in this season’s Women’s Super League, but were so comfortably dismissed by Barcelona in Europe, underlines the scale of Arsenal’s task on Saturday evening.
The Arsenal fans travelling out to the Portuguese capital for the club’s first Women’s Champions League final in 18 years have something else to remember, though. They are the last, and remain the only, English club to win the competition.
Arsenal’s inspiration is their own past: ‘It can start the cycle over’
'I feel like this is where we want to be'
Arsenal’s squad were this week visited by some of the members of the 2007 team that won the Uefa Women’s Cup and Alessia Russo said the club was back where they belong after reaching their first Champions League final for 18 years.
“I think any player who plays for Arsenal understands that it’s a winning club,” Russo said. “It’s a club that wants to be ambitious and competing with the best. I feel like this is where we want to be.
“We’ll keep pushing as a group, and we’re very away of what came before us as well. Kim has played for the club for so long and she deserves to be here.
“We also had lunch with some of the 2007 winners, to understand how much it means to them. How much they still feel part of the club is special for the current players.”
Arsenal's resilient path to Champions League final
Arsenal’s journey to Lisbon started in the qualifying rounds and they have become the first team to reach the final after overturning a first-leg defeat in three rounds of the tournament.
The Gunners came from behind to beat eight-time winners Lyon in the semi-finals also overturned first-leg defeats to progress past Real Madrid in the quarters and Hacken in the second round of qualifying back in September.
“The connection and belief we have in each other, that we know when we are not at our top level that we can get there and pull ourselves into that, I think that’s the mark of any great team,” said Arsenal’s captain Kim Little.
“You can’t play at the top of your game every second but what makes us a great team is those moments where we haven’t been, we can take ourselves out of those moments quite quickly, within games as well. That’s a really good trait to have and we have shown that on many occasions.”
Arsenal ‘here to win’ Women’s Champions League after rollercoaster road to final
Arsenal will need “courage” if they are to beat holders Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League final but head coach Renee Slegers believes their rollercoaster journey to Lisbon shows they have the resilience required to pull off the upset.
On Saturday evening Arsenal will play in their first Champions League final since winning the Uefa Women’s Cup in 2007 - where they become the first, and so far only, English team to become European champions.
They will face a strong Barcelona side who are appearing in their fifth final in a row and will be aiming to win a hat-trick of titles in a row after demolishing English champions Chelsea in the semi-finals.
“We want to show courage tomorrow,” Slegers said. “We respect Barcelona as a team, they are very good football team. We are humble, but at the same time we are here to win.
“We have to find ways to win, but I am confident the game will shift in momentum. For us, it’s important we deal with all moments really well.
“We need courage, we need discipline, we need to be switched on, we need to make the right decisions. We believe in our capacity to perform tomorrow.”
What is the Barcelona team news?
Barcelona’s spine has been familiar for many years, as is built around the key partnerships and experience of Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro in midfield and Mapi Leon and Irene Paredes in defence. Spain’s No 1 Cata Coll and right back Ona Batlle continue the Spanish spine of the team.
Sweden’s Fridolina Rolfo brings a versatile threat from left back while Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen is arguably the world’s best winger on the right. Up front, Barcelona have this season added the goals of Poland striker Ewa Pajor after her arrival from Wolfsburg.
Claudia Pina has ten goals in the Champions League this season, including three in the semi-final victory over Chelsea. Whether she starts over Spain team-mate Salma Paralluelo on the left wing is likely to be the only big team selection Pere Romeu has to make.
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