Arsenal win Women’s Champions League with victory over Barcelona

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 (67.80%) and shots on goal (20 to Arsenal’s 8).

Arsenal had nearly taken the lead in the 21st minute of the game, when Barcelona’s Irene Paredes turned Frida Maanum’s cross into her net. But the midfielder 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 and stunned their opponent’s fans into silence.

This is the first time Barcelona failed to find the net in 41 matches, after scoring an impressive 19 goals in their last three games and kept clean sheets in the previous four matches before Arsenal broke their streak.

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 maiden title in the 2006-07 season.

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers said prior to the game that her team, who many considered the underdogs, wanted “to show bravery”.

Slegers, who can now call herself a European winner in her very first season with the north London club, told DAZN after the game: “Arsenal has been working so hard and leading the way from the start.

“But you see things this season in the team and there are signs that when you are a winning team, you struggle together, you suffer together, you find ways to win.

“In critical, high-pressure moments, we’ve done that this season.”

WSL Golden Boot joint-winner Alessia Russo said Arsenal believed they could lift the trophy “from day one”.

She 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.”

Arsenal goalscorer Stina Blackstenius to DAZN: “I’m so happy with that [the goal], but this is a team performance. We have done it from the start and I’m so proud of everyone. They made it possible for me.

“It will take a moment to be like ‘we actually won’. It’s such a big moment and it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Captain Kim Little said lifting the trophy with Leah Williamson will be “the highlight of my career”.

She told DAZN: “I’m so proud of the girls. I’m so glad we’ve done this together. We came out today and did exactly what we wanted to do and executed it well.

“I’m so incredibly proud of this team and this club. This club is incredible. To be a part of it for so long is so special for me.”