LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Barcelona is aiming to complete a three-peat of Women’s Champions League titles when it faces Arsenal in the final in Lisbon on Saturday.
Barcelona is out to reaffirm its status as the dominant force in European women’s soccer for the fourth time in five years. Its possession-hungry and high-scoring attack is led from the midfield by two-time Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas and other members of Spain’s World Cup-winning team that beat England in the 2023 final.
Barcelona will play its sixth Champions League final in seven seasons and a record-equaling fifth in a row at the 50,000-capacity Estádio José Alvalade. The Catalan club has the chance to become the only team other than Lyon to lift the European Cup in three consecutive years.
“On the one hand it is normal we are labelled favorites because of all we have achieved, but in the locker room we know the importance of tomorrow’s game,” Bonmatí said on Friday. “It is going to be a tough final and either side can win.”
Arsenal has excelled as a spoiler in this campaign and hopes it can pull off another upset and win its second European title.
“They’re a fantastic team,” Arsenal defender Leah Williamson said about Barcelona. “We respect them a lot, but it’s a final, so everybody turns up and everybody gives their best.”
Barcelona’s weapons
First-year Barcelona coach Pere Romeu has a side that can hit from all angles with multiple scoring options.
It leads all the major team statistics in attack: Most goals scored with 44 — to Arsenals’ 25 — the highest possession, best pass accuracy and most shot attempts.
Forward Claudia Pina leads the competition in scoring with 10 goals, ahead of Arsenal pair Mariona Caldentey, who joined from the Spanish club last summer, and Alessia Russo with seven each. Regarding assists, Bonmatí and teammate Patri Guijarro lead the competition with five each.
Barcelona added to its champion squad in the offseason by signing Poland striker Ewa Pajor, who went on to lead the Spanish league with 23 goals. Pajor 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.”
Not unbeatable
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 unbeaten home 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. It 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.”
Gunning from behind
Arsenal remains the only English team to win the biggest title in women’s club soccer 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 is the underdog but it is likely comfortable with that role given its recent run of comebacks.
Renée Slegers's side rallied against Madrid in the quarterfinals, and shocked eight-time winner Lyon in the semifinals when it rebounded from a 2-1 loss in London by winning 4-1 in France.
This is Aresnal’s only chance to win some silverware in 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 we) keep on believing, that’s been key for us,” Slegers said. “We’ve done some magical things.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press
