Arsenal pulled off a major upset with a 1-0 win against Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League final on Saturday.
Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius, on as a second-half substitute, scored the winner in the 75th minute as she was picked out with an excellent pass from Beth Mead before she finished low past Barcelona goalkeeper Catalina Coll.
Arsenal were required to defend for large parts of the game against a Barcelona team who were heavy favourites to win the Champions League for the third year running after they hammered Chelsea, who won the domestic treble this season, with an 8-2 aggregate victory in the semi-final.
Arsenal won the Women’s Champions League in 2007 and remain the only English club to have lifted the trophy.
But Arsenal’s achievement in Europe this season is even more remarkable given their rocky start to the campaign which saw them win just one of their opening four Women’s Super League games and suffer a heavy 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
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Jonas Eidevall resigned as manager in October and Renee Slegers was appointed as an interim replacement, however, an upturn in form led to the 36-year-old getting the job on a permanent basis in January.
But despite getting their WSL season back on track, a deep run in the Champions League looked unlikely after a 2-0 defeat away to Real Madrid in the quarter-final.
Slegers’ side staged an impressive comeback in the return leg at the Emirates Stadium with a 3-0 victory to progress to the semi-final.
Arsenal were forced to come from behind once again after a 2-1 defeat at home to eight-time winners Lyon in the first leg of semi-final, and a 4-1 victory in the return leg in France booked their place in the final against Barcelona.
The Catalan club dominated for large parts of the game in Saturday’s final but a resilient Arsenal display limited their chances on goal.
Leah Williamson delivered a brilliant performance at the heart of Arsenal’s back line up against Polish striker Ewa Pajor, who has scored 41 goals in her debut season for Barcelona.
Arsenal thought they had taken the lead in the first half when Frida Maanum delivered a low cross and the ball was turned into her own net by Irene Paredes.
However, a VAR check revealed that Maanum had gone too early and was offside.
Arsenal were forced to defend deep after the break and capitalised with a quick move which was finished superbly by Blackstenius.
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