Arsenal win Women’s Champions League with victory over Barcelona | UK News
Arsenal have won the Women’s Champions League for the second time, beating Barcelona 1-0 in the final in Lisbon.
Substitute Stina Blackstenius scored the game’s only goal in the 75th minute after a brilliant pass from England’s Beth Mead.
Defending champions Barcelona had dominated the game up to that point, both in possession and shots on goal.
Despite their mostly dominating opponent, Arsenal had nearly taken the lead in the 21st minute of the game, when Barcelona’s Irene Paredes turned Chloe Kelly’s cross into her net.
But the British winger had gone slightly too early, and VAR ruled for offside.
The score remained 0-0 until the masterclass by Mead and Blackstenius in the second half, which secured their team’s win over Barcelona.
Arsenal players were celebrating after scoring their first goal. Pic: PA
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers, who can now call herself a European winner in her very first season with the north London club, said prior to the game that her team, who many considered the underdogs, wanted “to show bravery”.
Barcelona went into the match as favourites to lift the trophy, having won three of the last four competitions.
Meanwhile, Arsenal – the only English team to have won the women’s competition – had not lifted the trophy since their first time in 2006-07 season.
WSL Golden Boot joint-winner Alessia Russo told TNT after her side’s unbelievable performance: “We worked so hard. It feels amazing.
“We had to suffer a lot. They are a top side. We had to be content and happy with not having the ball, knowing our moment would come. When our game-changers came on, our squad wanted it so badly.
“It feels surreal. We knew we could, we believed since our journey started. It was just about doing and doing it and we did.”
Her teammate, Mariona Caldentey, told DAZN: “I can’t believe it. Barca are an amazing team and we knew it was going to be hard. We suffered and we made it.
“We would have liked to have more of the ball. It’s hard to defend all the time, but it was the game we had to play. We were mentally focused on that and it was perfect because we won.”
On playing against her former side, Barcelona: “Really weird. A lot of emotions before and during the game, but now I’m playing for Arsenal and now I give everything to them.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
