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A great piece on Barcelona, who head into the game as favourites today:
Arsenal defender Leah Williamson was a mascot the last time the Gunners were in the Women’s Champions League final. Today she starts for the side, she spoke to Suzy Wrack about her journey here:
Tom Garry
Around 5,000 Arsenal fans are expected in Lisbon today, while there are believed to be at least 30,000 Barcelona supporters descending on the Portuguese capital. There is a spotless, blue sky above the city. Since the pandemic, Barcelona fans have got used to this end-of-season showpiece and it’s become something of a pilgrimage for their fans - I spoke to one Barca fan this morning who is attending the final for the third year in a row and saved up for six months to buy their flights. Arsenal, on the other hand, are at this stage for the first time in 18 years. There’s a novelty to this event for their fans, rather than a routine.
Manchester City and former Arsenal star Vivianne Miedema is in Lisbon for the final, supporting her partner Beth Mead. She was asked by ESPN who she thinks will win the game today: “Barcelona has a lot of quality. I played against them with City at the beginning of the season. If I have to predict, I think Barcelona.”
Final team news
The team news is in. Crucially for Arsenal star goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar is fit and starts the final.
Arsenal: Van Domselaar, Fox, Williamson, Catley, Mariona, Little (C), McCabe, Maanum, Foord, Kelly, Russo
Subs: Zinsberger, Williams, Wubben-Moy, Codina, Ilestedt, Nighswonger, Walti, Cooney-Cross, Pelova, Hurtig, Mead, Blackstenius
Barcelona, meanwhile, have their full line-up of icons fully loaded. They have so many Salma Paralluelo is on the bench.
Barcelona: Coll, Paredes, Leon, Pina, Graham Hansen, Putellas, Patri, Bonmati, Rolfo, Pajor, Batlle
Subs: Gemma, Roebuck, Jana, Paralluelo, Marta, Vicky, Engen, Brugts, Cane, Schertenleib, Serrajordi, Judit
Some intriguing news fans need to know about next season’s Women’s Champions League:
Are the nerves kicking in yet? Any predictions for the match? I’d love to hear. Give me an email and get in touch.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the Women’s Champions League final where Arsenal will try and defy the odds once again to lift the trophy for the second time in their history.
They come up against the in-form team in this competition in Barcelona which is why the Gunners head into the game a underdogs. Defending champions Barca defeated Wolfsburg 10-2 on aggregate in their quarter-final and treble domestic champions Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the semi-final.
But Arsenal themselves had impressive knockout matches, coming from 2-0 down to beat Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate in the quarters and they downed eight-time winners Lyon 5-3 in the semis.
The Gunners were also the last English team to win this trophy, back in 2007 when they achieved the quadruple. Can they do it again? We will find out in a few short hours with kick-off coming at 5pm BST. First is the team news which will be dropping shortly, so stay tuned.
