Arsenal make history in Champions League thanks to the dream that never died | OneFootball

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’s players had spoken glowingly of the 2007 winners this week, the team who had led the way by winning the Uefa Women’s Cup. The respect and inspiration between past and present was mutual and they met for lunch at Arsenal’s training ground on Tuesday. Arsenal reaching another final 18 years on was for them as much as the current side, as well as a source of motivation. They felt like they could belong on this stage.

open image in gallery

Arsenal celebrated the most incredible of victories (Getty Images)

But the 2007 team did not face anything like this. That’s not to be disrespectful of the previous era, but the game has come a long way in a short time and Barcelona and Spain have elevated its levels with their technical superiority.

On a sweltering hot day in Lisbon, on a pitch that has half exposed to the glaring sunlight, could they live with this Barcelona for 90 minutes and more? Could they follow and track the movements of Aitana Bonmati and Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas? Were they able find a way to play up to Alessia Russo, without the relentless Irene Paredes and Mapi Leon cutting in front and returning the direction straight back?

The answer, somehow, despite Barcelona hitting the bar when Pina’s shot deflected off Emily Fox and Arsenal surviving several more dangerous moments, was emphatically yes. Barcelona were stunned, their stars left on the pitch in tears. “I don't believe it,” said Bonmati. “I just want to start the game again and do it differently. We're really sorry, we gave everything.”

And the change, the moment that turned this final around after Arsenal faced suffocating pressure, came from the bench. Slegers, watching on in her shorts, stayed cool in the heat: she threw on Blackstenius and Mead, dropped the tireless Russo deeper, and beckoned Barcelona to come again with their best shot while delivering the sucker-punch. “They said I should try to run in behind and try to stretch them,” Blackstenius said.

Her goal, a moment that will be relieved again and again in north London, actually came from a glaring miss. The sort of chance that Blackstenius has a habit of missing, through on goal and with just Cata Coll to beat. But it was the run, shrugging Leon to the turf and surging away, that broke up Barcelona’s momentum. For the first time in half an hour, Arsenal could cross the halfway line. Barcelona seemed to slump. When the corner was cleared, they were slow to get out. Mariona Caldentey picked out Mead. The ball to Blackstenius was clever. The finish was Blackstenius actually happened.

open image in gallery

Stina Blackstenius fired home a goal that will go down in history (Getty Images)

And there was shock and pandemonium at once from the corner and red and white who squinted at the glaring light towards their heroes, who had changed so much. “There is so much strength in this team,” Slegers said. “The biggest shift is the mentality, the willingness to work, the willingness to engage, the willingness to solve problems.”

Get 3 months free with ExpressVPN

Servers in 105 CountriesSuperior SpeedsWorks on all your devices

Try for free

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Lisbon brought together two of Europe’s best fan bases and supporters of women’s football, but Barcelona still made it feel like a home final. Their iconic anthem, the Cant del Barça, drowned out ‘North London Forever’. Though it wasn’t as overwhelming as Bilbao, when Barcelona finally defeated eight-time winners Lyon to defend their title last year; the corner of red and white illustrated the strength and heritage of the opposition.

Barcelona couldn’t avoid the favourites tag after winning three of the last four Women’s Champions Leagues. But they were wary of Arsenal, conscious of how they had overturned first-leg defeats and came from behind to win in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and their 4-1 win at Lyon forced them to take notice. Their trepidation was justified.

Arsenal, however, had conceded 12 goals in their three games before the final, while Barcelona had put eight past Chelsea across both legs of their semi-final route against the English champions. Could they hold out defensively against Barcelona? Well, that’s not really their style. Not out of choice, at least. Slegers told her side to face Barcelona with courage.

But, apart from a spell midway through the first half where Arsenal grew into the game, the Barcelona opener felt inevitable. To begin with, Arsenal looked nervy and erratic, making the wrong decisions and playing themselves into trouble - all the things you don’t want to show in a first European final in 18 years. An almost calamitous mix-up between Leah Williamson and Caldentey could have sent this down a very different path.

open image in gallery

Arsenal came under huge pressure from Barcelona (AP)

open image in gallery

But Blackstenius’s strike prompted celebrations (AP)

Instead, Arsenal’s hesitancy went unpunished and they gradually pulled themselves back, just as captain Kim Little said they would after the comebacks against Lyon and Bayern Munich. “It felt like our year, and the game today was the same thing. It went our way,” Little said.

They irritated the Barcelona passing machine just enough to force into coughing up some loose touches and moments in midfield, turning it into space to ask some questions of their own. There was suddenly a feeling of vulnerability around Barcelona’s serial winners.

It lasted until half-time, when Arsenal had a goal ruled out for offside and Frida Maanum forced Coll into a good save with a shot from distance. When Barcelona re-emerged to shoot towards their home end, the barrage felt too much for Arsenal to hang on. Domsellar was stranded when Pina’s shot looped up and onto the crossbar. Arsenal were again praying when Salma Paralluelo squared and Ewa Pajor’s shot from close range was deflected just wide.

And the defence – this defence, that had conceded five at Aston Villa just three weeks ago, stood firm. Barcelona kept finding a way into the box, but Arsenal were there. Caitlin Foord celebrated blocking a cross like a goal. Little and Williamson, who was immense, made crucial interventions. Russo never stopped running.

Arsenal were just about alive, and then Slegers looked behind her to bring on Blackstenius. “I was joking with Beth after the game, I was like, ‘I told you, give the ball to Stina and she will would score,’” Slegers laughed. “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. It’s getting the timing right.”