Who: Barcelona vs Arsenal
What: UEFA Women’s Champions League final
When: Saturday, May 24 (18:00 kickoff, 16:00 GMT)
Where: Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal
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Barcelona are aiming to complete a three-peat of Women’s Champions League titles and win its fourth European crown in five years when it faces Arsenal in Lisbon on Saturday.
Al Jazeera Sport looks at a final that pits two of the biggest names in women’s football for the game’s biggest club prize.
What is the secret to Barcelona’s success?
Barcelona are out to reaffirm their status as the dominant force in European women’s football after they finally beat Lyon and successfully defended their title in last year’s final.
Their possession-hungry and high-scoring attack is led from the midfield by Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas and several other members of Spain’s World Cup-winning team that beat England in the 2023 final.
What is Barcelona’s Champions League record?
Barcelona will be playing in its sixth Champions League final in seven seasons and a record-equalling fifth in a row at Lisbon’s 50,000-capacity Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The Catalan club has the chance to become the only team other than Lyon to lift the European Cup in three consecutive years.
Bonmati, the Ballon d’Or winner in 2023 and 2024, said the experience gained from previous finals is invaluable.
“I’ve learned a lot of things. It is the path that has fallen to us. The first final in Budapest was an inexperienced team that was going to see what happened. Now, we are the team to beat,” she said.
“Knowing how to be, knowing how to suffer, is very important. And never giving up. We have had finals where we have come back. We have had games of all colours.”
What is Arsenal’s take on facing Barcelona?
Standing in Barcelona’s way is an Arsenal team that has excelled as a spoiler this campaign and hopes it can pull off another upset and win its second European title.
“They’re a fantastic team and they’ve obviously got the recent history to prove it,” Arsenal defender Leah Williamson said about Barcelona in the build-up to the final.
“We respect them a lot, but it’s a final, so everybody turns up and everybody gives their best.”
How do Barcelona and Arsenal match up?
First-year Barcelona coach Pere Romeu has a side that can hit from all angles with multiple scoring options.
They lead all the major team statistics in attack: most goals scored with 44, to Arsenal’s 25, the highest possession, best pass accuracy and most shot attempts.
Barcelona forward Claudia Pina leads the competition in scoring with 10 goals, ahead of Arsenal pair Mariona Caldentey, who joined from the Spanish club last year, and Alessia Russo with seven each. Bonmati and teammate Patri Guijarro lead the competition with five assists each.
Have Barcelona improved on last season?
Barcelona added to its winning squad in the offseason by signing Poland striker Ewa Pajor, who went on to lead the Spanish league with 23 goals.
Pajor, 28, is seeking her first European title after losing four finals with former club Wolfsburg, including the 2023 final to Barcelona after leading 2-0.
“The final is played in the details, and we can prepare the details before the game,” Pajor said. “What I have also learned, because I’ve played in four finals, you have to be there in the first minute until the end.”
How has Barcelona’s season progressed?
Barcelona has rolled to a sixth consecutive Liga F title and has reached another Copa de la Reina final, but at the same time, it has proven beatable.
Barcelona’s home unbeaten run in Liga F came to an end after a record 64 games this season, and it lost to Real Madrid for the first time in 19 Clasicos since its top rival founded a women’s team.
They also started the Champions League with a rare group stage loss to Manchester City.
“We lost a couple more games than we are used to, and we lost some games that hurt more than others,” Barcelona forward Caroline Graham said, adding about the City defeat: “A lot of people thought that our run to be good in the Champions League was a bit over. That was a motivation to show that we still are good and that we can still compete against the best.”
How do Arsenal shape up?
Arsenal remain the only English team to win the biggest title in women’s club football after it won UEFA’s Women’s Cup in 2007 when it beat Umea, two years before the tournament was reformatted and renamed the Women’s Champions League.
Arsenal may be the underdog, but it is likely comfortable with that role given its recent run of comebacks.
Renee Slegers’s side rallied against Madrid in the quarterfinals, and then shocked eight-time winner Lyon in the semifinals when they rebounded from a 2-1 loss in London by winning 4-1 in France.
This is the English club’s only chance to win some silverware this campaign after finishing second to Chelsea in England’s Women’s Super League and failing to reach the finals of the FA Cup or League Cup.
“We’ve had to come back from a lot of difficult situations, from setbacks, but the persistence of the team and the [fact that we] keep on believing, that’s been key for us,” Slegers said. “We’ve done some magical things.”
Do Arsenal and Barcelona have history?
Arsenal were Barcelona’s first opponents in Europe’s top club competition in the 2012-13 season, when the English side crushed the Catalans 7-0 over two legs.
Barcelona were nowhere near as good as they are now, however. They overwhelmed Chelsea, who went unbeaten across the 22-game Women’s Super League season en route to winning the title, 8-2 on aggregate in the Champions League semifinals.
“Everything leads you to be what you are now,” Putellas said. “In that first match of this competition, it was unthinkable what would come next. It’s thanks to work. I feel privileged to have been able to live this whole journey.”
