Arsenal are UEFA Women's Champions League champions after beating Barcelona 1–0 in Saturday's tense final at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon.
Arsenal ended their 18-year wait to be champions of Europe once again, with the club's last Champions League title coming in 2007 (when the tournament was known as the UEFA Women's Cup). Stina Blackstenius scored the only goal of the match in the 74th minute to clinch it for the Gunners.
Barcelona had won the previous two editions of the competition and was attempting to lift the Champions League trophy for a fourth time. This was just the second time that the Catalans had lost in a Champions League final, after losing 3-1 to Lyon in 2022.
Here are three takeaways from the final:
Super subs change the game
With Arsenal on the back foot, Blackstenius came off the bench in the 67th minute as a replacement for Frida Maanum. At the same time, Beth Mead was also brought on for Chloe Kelly. The two would collaborate for Arsenal's title-winning strike.
The substitutions completely changed the game and European soccer history. The Swedish international's arrival immediately injected some fresh legs and a killer instinct in the box for the Gunners. Meanwhile, Mead was able to bring some calm and pick out teammates with acute passing.
The goal was Blackstenius's third touch of the match. In seven minutes after coming on, she had already managed one shot on target before receiving Mead's perfectly disguised pass in the box, taking a touch to soften the ball and then striking a firm shot beyond Cata Coll in the Barcelona goal. Blackstenius attempted three of Arsenal's four total shots in the second half.
Chloe Kelly leads the press early for physical Arsenal
Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers opted for the same starting lineup that defeated Lyon 4–1 in the second leg of the semifinals. That meant Kelly, on loan from Manchester City, played on the right wing for the Gunners.
Barcelona were disjointed in the first half and lacked the preparation to be chased down quickly by the Arsenal forwards. In the first half, Kelly snuck in behind Alexia Putellas and stole the ball in the final third.
Arsenal just needed one pass, and they were back in the Barcelona box. At halftime, Kelly had won more duels (five) than any other player in the match, while also winning two tackles and one header. She was also an attacking threat on set pieces.
Challenging for the ball high disrupted Barcelona's passing rhythm, and forced Barca's goalkeeper to clear her lines long in the early stages of the match. That resulted in Arsenal winning aerial duels in midfield. Manuum had the first shot on target of the match in the 27th minute by forcing Barcelona to go long, winning the header and pushing the game back into Barcelona's box.
Barcelona take control, but it's not enough
Arsenal's high-intensity physicality shook Barcelona early, but slowly the reigning champions began to find themselves. It was incredibly difficult for Arsenal to keep up those levels for 90 minutes.
After just two shot attempts in the opening 30 minutes, Barcelona managed four in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Then, in the second half, Barcelona grew in confidence. The passing became even slicker, and within two minutes of the restart, Claudia Pina clattered the top of the crossbar with Daphne van Domselaar beaten.
Barcelona attempted eight shots (three on target) in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. After a promising opening, Arsenal lagged in the Lisbon sunshine, dropping into a deeper formation and allowing Barcelona to crank up the pressure. It looked like Barcelona would find a breakthrough, but it never came.
As perhaps was expected, Barcelona was able to slowly build more control and finished the final with 68% possession, over 500 passes attempted and with 88% pass completion.
However, Arsenal showed that staying in the match, making plenty of blocks and soaking up pressure can be enough so long as you pick your moment. Despite dominating the game, Barcelona couldn't break through. And despite 20 total shots, Barça forced just five saves from van Domselaar.
