Arsenal take on holders Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League final in Lisbon as the Gunners attempt to become the first English team to win the tournament since their historic victory 18 years ago.
Arsenal are through to their first European final since winning the Uefa Women’s Cup in 2007, but face the new dominant force of European football in reigning champions Barcelona. The Spanish side will be playing in their fifth final in a row, and are targeting a hat-trick of titles in Lisbon.
Arsenal have taken a rollercoaster route to the final with head coach Renee Slegers taking over in mid-season and the Gunners requiring dramatic comebacks to defeat Real Madrid and eight-time Champions League winners Lyon in the knockout rounds.
Barcelona continued to deny English champions Chelsea, with an 8-2 aggregate victory over the unbeaten treble winners in the semi-finals underlining the scale of Arsenal’s task. Arsenal’s player of the year Mariona Caldentey will face her former team, having won a third Champions League with Barcelona in last year’s final.
Follow all the build-up and updates from Lisbon ahead of the Women’s Champions League final. You can watch all the action on streaming platform DAZN in the UK for FREE.
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Arsenal vs Barcelona LIVE: Women's Champions League final latest updates
- Arsenal face Barcelona in Women's Champions League final | Kick-off 5pm, live on DAZN and TNT Sports
- Arsenal through to first European final since winning the Uefa Women's Cup in 2007
- Holders Barcelona have reached fifth final in a row and can complete hat-trick
- Final is being staged at Estadio Jose Alvalade, the home of Sporting Lisbon
Arsenal team arrives
15:23
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal have arrived at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, with just over 90 minutes to go until kick-off in Lisbon.
The Gunners were happy with the 5pm kick-off team, relieving them of the anxious wait that comes with a later kick-off.
Confirmed team news and line-ups will be arriving in the next half hour or so.
Barcelona sense Arsenal's resilience
15:20
,
Jamie Braidwood
Barcelona are wary of Arsenal’s route to the Women’s Champions League final and the strength they have shown to overturn first-leg defeats in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
The Spanish side are favourites but have been telling themselves that they cannot afford to relax if they make a typically fast start. Barcelona famously scored four first-half goals in the 2021 final against Chelsea and they want to be ruthless again this evening.
Atmosphere building in Lisbon
14:40
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal and Barcelona is not just a great final in terms of two teams who want to play good football, but it also brings Europe’s two biggest fanbases when it comes to the women’s game together in Lisbon.
Barcelona swarmed Bilbao when they reached last year’s final against Lyon but there is more of an even split this time with plenty of Arsenal fans making the trip over.
For now, the Arsenal fans have gathered around the vibrant bars of Pink Street, while Barcelona have themselves a fan zone in the Praça do Comércio plaza.
14:30
,
Ciara Fearn
Where to tune in for Arsenal vs Barcelona
With the title on the line in a much-anticipated showdown between two of Europe’s best, here’s how you can watch it live:
TV channel: Viewers in the UK can catch all the action live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage starting from 4pm.
Live stream: Subscribers to TNT Sports can also stream the match live via the Discovery+ app or website.
Additionally, the game will be available to stream for free on DAZN’s Women’s Football YouTube channel, no subscription required.
Live blog: Be sure to follow every moment as it happens with The Independent’s live match blog, bringing you real-time updates, analysis and reaction.
Highlights: Thanks to our partnership with DAZN, you’ll also be able to watch free highlights on the DAZN Women’s Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
What is the Arsenal team news?
14:20
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal could line up exactly how they did in the 4-1 win at Lyon in the semi-final second leg. Leah Williamson leads the defence and Steph Catley has emerged as her centre-back partner this season, with Emily Fox and Katie McCabe at full-back.
Mariona Caldentey has been influential from a deeper midfield position alongside captain Kim Little, with Frida Maanum allowed to roam further forward. On the wings, Arsenal carry pace and danger in Chloe Kelly and Caitlin Foord, while striker Alessia Russo has seven Champions League goals this season, level with Caldentey.
The only question comes down to goalkeeper. Daphne van Domselaar is available but has not played in Arsenal’s last three games due to injury.
What is the Barcelona team news?
14:00
,
Jamie Braidwood
Barcelona’s spine has been familiar for many years, as is built around the key partnerships and experience of Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro in midfield and Mapi Leon and Irene Paredes in defence. Spain’s No 1 Cata Coll and right back Ona Batlle continue the Spanish spine of the team.
Sweden’s Fridolina Rolfo brings a versatile threat from left back while Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen is arguably the world’s best winger on the right. Up front, Barcelona have this season added the goals of Poland striker Ewa Pajor after her arrival from Wolfsburg.
Claudia Pina has ten goals in the Champions League this season, including three in the semi-final victory over Chelsea. Whether she starts over Spain team-mate Salma Paralluelo on the left wing is likely to be the only big team selection Pere Romeu has to make.
Aitana Bonmati: 'Now we are the team to beat'
13:40
,
Jamie Braidwood
Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati, the Ballon d'Or winner in 2023 and 2024, said the experience gained from previous finals was invaluable.
The Spanish side have been through tough defeats, particularly when Lyon were winning the Champions League eight times between 2011 and 2022.
Barcelona had yet to beat Lyon when they met last year in the Champions League final, but they overcame them to become the dominant force.
"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.”
'Arsenal in the final for a reason'
13:20
,
Jamie Braidwood
Although Barcelona are strong favourites to hoist the women's Champions League trophy on Saturday for the fourth time in five years, they will be taking nothing for granted.
Barcelona play Arsenal at Lisbon's Estadio Jose Alvalade and while the London side were the 2007 champions and once regulars in the competition's latter stages, the pendulum has now swung heavily in the Spanish side's favour.
Barcelona players have made 48 collective appearances in Champions League finals, while Mariona Caldentey is their only Arsenal player to have featured in the final, playing in five for Barcelona between 2019-24.
"A final is unpredictable. There may be things you can't control," Barca midfielder Alexia Putellas told reporters. "We know we can do it. It is true that Arsenal are a great team and that they are in the final for a reason."
How Mariona Caldentey elevated Arsenal on road to Champions League final
13:00
,
Jamie Braidwood
When Arsenal approached Mariona Caldentey in the summer of 2024, it was with occasions like Saturday’s Women’s Champions League final in mind. A three-time European champion with Barcelona, and a World Cup winner with Spain, the midfielder was seen as a figure with the talent, work ethic, charisma and trophy cabinet to help Arsenal to the next level.
Her final game for Barcelona came in Bilbao, as they defeated Lyon to retain the Champions League. A year on, the last game of her first season at Arsenal will culminate in another Champions League final, this time against her former side.
Just as Arsenal hoped, Caldentey has been pivotal to their run to their first Women’s Champions League final since 2007.
'We were the best team in the world'
12:40
,
Jamie Braidwood
Although the landscape of women’s football has developed significantly, the significance of the 2007 triumph still runs through Arsenal now. Leah Williamson, part of the club’s academy since the age of nine, was a mascot and walked out alongside the team before they became European champions. Little first joined Arsenal in 2008, so has spent her entire career chasing the goal of appearing in another European final. Kelly Smith, the legendary Arsenal and England striker, is part of the current coaching staff.
Jayne Ludlow captained Arsenal in 2007 and explains how they were “programmed to win”. Success was not just demanded but expected. “I’m proud to say that the club has always supported the women’s team extremely well,” Ludlow says. “The success in 2007 was recognition of this investment and support, but, in all honesty, was [just] another trophy for us. The win reinforced what we believed: that we were the best in the world.”
‘It can start the cycle over’: Arsenal’s Champions League inspiration is their own past
12:20
,
Jamie Braidwood
When Kim Little leads Arsenal out onto the pitch at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, the first step they will have to face is believing they belong there. On the other side, Barcelona by now expect to be appearing in Women’s Champions League finals, as the all-conquering Spanish team target a third European title in a row and a fourth in five seasons.
Arsenal can’t afford to think too much about their opposition. Barcelona are the best team in the world and progressed to the final by demolishing Chelsea, the best in England, 8-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. That Chelsea finished 12 points ahead of the Gunners in this season’s Women’s Super League, but were so comfortably dismissed by Barcelona in Europe, underlines the scale of Arsenal’s task on Saturday evening.
The Arsenal fans travelling out to the Portuguese capital for the club’s first Women’s Champions League final in 18 years have something else to remember, though. They are the last, and remain the only, English club to win the competition.
'I feel like this is where we want to be'
12:00
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal’s squad were this week visited by some of the members of the 2007 team that won the Uefa Women’s Cup and Alessia Russo said the club was back where they belong after reaching their first Champions League final for 18 years.
“I think any player who plays for Arsenal understands that it’s a winning club,” Russo said. “It’s a club that wants to be ambitious and competing with the best. I feel like this is where we want to be.
“We’ll keep pushing as a group, and we’re very away of what came before us as well. Kim has played for the club for so long and she deserves to be here.
“We also had lunch with some of the 2007 winners, to understand how much it means to them. How much they still feel part of the club is special for the current players.”
Arsenal's resilient path to Champions League final
11:40
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal’s journey to Lisbon started in the qualifying rounds and they have become the first team to reach the final after overturning a first-leg defeat in three rounds of the tournament.
The Gunners came from behind to beat eight-time winners Lyon in the semi-finals also overturned first-leg defeats to progress past Real Madrid in the quarters and Hacken in the second round of qualifying back in September.
“The connection and belief we have in each other, that we know when we are not at our top level that we can get there and pull ourselves into that, I think that’s the mark of any great team,” said Arsenal’s captain Kim Little.
“You can’t play at the top of your game every second but what makes us a great team is those moments where we haven’t been, we can take ourselves out of those moments quite quickly, within games as well. That’s a really good trait to have and we have shown that on many occasions.”
Arsenal ‘here to win’ Women’s Champions League after rollercoaster road to final
11:20
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal will need “courage” if they are to beat holders Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League final but head coach Renee Slegers believes their rollercoaster journey to Lisbon shows they have the resilience required to pull off the upset.
On Saturday evening Arsenal will play in their first Champions League final since winning the Uefa Women’s Cup in 2007 - where they become the first, and so far only, English team to become European champions.
They will face a strong Barcelona side who are appearing in their fifth final in a row and will be aiming to win a hat-trick of titles in a row after demolishing English champions Chelsea in the semi-finals.
“We want to show courage tomorrow,” Slegers said. “We respect Barcelona as a team, they are very good football team. We are humble, but at the same time we are here to win.
“We have to find ways to win, but I am confident the game will shift in momentum. For us, it’s important we deal with all moments really well.
“We need courage, we need discipline, we need to be switched on, we need to make the right decisions. We believe in our capacity to perform tomorrow.”
What is the Barcelona team news?
11:10
,
Jamie Braidwood
Barcelona’s spine has been familiar for many years, as is built around the key partnerships and experience of Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro in midfield and Mapi Leon and Irene Paredes in defence. Spain’s No 1 Cata Coll and right back Ona Batlle continue the Spanish spine of the team.
Sweden’s Fridolina Rolfo brings a versatile threat from left back while Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen is arguably the world’s best winger on the right. Up front, Barcelona have this season added the goals of Poland striker Ewa Pajor after her arrival from Wolfsburg.
Claudia Pina has ten goals in the Champions League this season, including three in the semi-final victory over Chelsea. Whether she starts over Spain team-mate Salma Paralluelo on the left wing is likely to be the only big team selection Pere Romeu has to make.
What is the Arsenal team news?
11:05
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal could line up exactly how they did in the 4-1 win at Lyon in the semi-final second leg. Leah Williamson leads the defence and Steph Catley has emerged as her centre-back partner this season, with Emily Fox and Katie McCabe at full-back.
Mariona Caldentey has been influential from a deeper midfield position alongside captain Kim Little, with Frida Maanum allowed to roam further forward. On the wings, Arsenal carry pace and danger in Chloe Kelly and Caitlin Foord, while striker Alessia Russo has seven Champions League goals this season, level with Caldentey.
The only question comes down to goalkeeper. Daphne van Domselaar is available but has not played in Arsenal’s last three games due to injury.
Women's Champions League final start time and how to watch
11:02
,
Jamie Braidwood
Kick-off in Lisbon is at 5pm BST (UK time ) on Saturday 24 May. The final will be staged at the Estádio José Alvalade, the home of Sporting Lisbon.
It will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 and on Discovery+, where a live stream will be available for TNT Sports customers.
Welcome along
11:00
,
Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal host holders Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League final in Lisbon as the Gunners look to win their first European crown since 2007 against the world’s best team.
Arsenal returned to the final for the first time in 18 years as they defeated eight-time winners Lyon in the semi-finals, and they remain the last English team to win the competition.
They will face the serial winners in Lisbon, with Barcelona appearing in their fifth final in a row and looking to complete a hat-trick of Champions League titles on the spin.
Barcelona, who are led by Ballon d’Or holder Aitana Bonmati, thrashed English champions Chelsea in the semi-finals and will come into the final as clear favourites.
But Arsenal have risen to the occasion under Renee Slegers this season, and will look to former Barcelona star Mariona Caldentey to provide inspiration against her old team.