‘It can start the cycle over’: Arsenal’s Champions League inspiration is their own past | OneFootball

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 Lisbon final by demolishing Chelsea, the best in England, 8-2 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 Lisbon 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. In 2007, an Arsenal team that included Alex Scott, Karen Carney, Rachel Yankey, Anita Asante and Julie Fleeting defeated Swedish side Umea over two legs to win the Uefa Women’s Cup.

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.

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Arsenal remain the only English team to win the Women’s Champions League (Getty Images)

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 another trophy for us. The win reinforced what we believed: that we were the best in the world.”

Arsenal are at the point where they are trying to build again, though, in a new age. The club continues to be a pioneer in the women’s game, but success has come off the pitch with Arsenal creating a culture that has seen the fan experience flourish. Arsenal still expect to win trophies, but Chelsea’s scale of dominance over the English game has left them competing for the odd League Cup. Arsenal's last Women’s Super League title was six years ago.

Instead, Arsenal’s energy and momentum has come from their decision to play the majority of home games at the Emirates. In turn, Arsenal have recognised their support in a different way and through big nights, such as the Champions League quarter-final comeback against Real Madrid that led to this historic final. Now Arsenal are here again, the culture they built prior to 2007 resonates even more. Lisbon is vindication for homegrown players like Williamson, and for sticking with the club for so long.

The final step remains the hardest, however, particularly when the opposition is as accustomed to winning as Barcelona are. The Spanish side have been through this themselves, particularly when Lyon were winning the Champions League eight times between 2011 and 2022. Barcelona had to learn to get closer through tough defeats. 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.

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Aitana Bonmati, the world’s best, scored the opening goal against Lyon in last year’s final (Getty Images)

Barcelona did it in their own way, too, and took the only path they knew. “It’s not just winning,” Vicky Losada, the former Barcelona captain who led the Catalan side to their first Women’s Champions League title in 2021, told The Independent last year. “For us it’s how you win, the way you play. We knew our objectives, we knew how we wanted to win. If we lost, it was our way.” When Barcelona faced Chelsea in the 2021 final, there was no doubt: they tore through the English champions in a 4-0 win that reinforced their principles.

The Barcelona DNA is now written throughout the best team in the world, forged by the group that have been through it all, from the Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putella to Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro. The production line from La Masia, forging a route for homegrown players who know the Barcelona way, has this season enjoyed the breakthrough year of Claudia Pina, the top scorer in this season’s Champions League with 10 goals, including three across both legs against Chelsea.

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Claudia Pina scored in the 4-1 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (Getty Images)

Technically, Barcelona are on a different level to everyone else. “It’s just facts,” the Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor said after the first of her team’s 4-1 defeats to Barcelona last month. “Barcelona and the Spanish team, they are so good at holding the ball under pressure, individually and collectively.” Barcelona, with 112 goals scored in 30 games on their way to another Liga F title in Spain, also carry a ruthless streak, and the signing of Ewa Pajor last summer brought the arrival of one of Europe’s deadliest strikers.

The success of Barcelona and Spain in recent years was why the arrival of Mariona Caldentey felt like such a marquee signing for Arsenal. The World Cup winner has proved a huge hit, winning the club’s player of the year, while bringing a bit of Barcelona to north London. “I just love to be around the ball and in contact with the ball, to try and bring what I can bring and make everything easier for my team-mates,” she has said. ”It’s easy to play for this team.”

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Mariona Caldentey, who scored a stunning goal in the win over Lyon, will face her former team in Lisbon (Getty Images)

But as well as looking to benefit from Caldentey’s wonderful technique, passing ability and approach to the game, it was almost as if Arsenal signed the midfielder because they wanted to tap into a winning culture they had yet forgotten themselves, given the dominance of others. Barcelona are the clear favourites in Lisbon, but Arsenal have the chance to bring their journey full circle - while raising what it means to another level.

“We didn’t have the media attention,” Ludlow says. “We had an impact on a smaller number of young girls back then, in comparison to now. But some of those young girls are now top level players because they saw role models back in 2007, and that makes me smile. If the club wins this weekend, then it potentially starts the cycle over again.”