Arsenal vs Barcelona: Women's Champions League final - Renee Slegers' side enter tie as underdogs but with strength of belief they can upset holders

Saturday encompasses an achievement decades in the making for Arsenal.

The last time the club featured in a Women’s Champions League final it was 2007.

Apple had just introduced the iPhone to the world. Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as Prime Minister. Manchester United were dominating the Premier League. Events that feel like a lifetime ago, because they were.

Arsenal have endured plenty of false dawns and near misses since their European zenith. Some campaigns were spent outside continental competition altogether. But now the Gunners are back on the biggest stage they plan to attack the game in Lisbon with “no fear”.

And why not? In a campaign where Arsenal have already overturned first-leg deficits in three different ties, why not be bold and daring and gallant enough to dream? Why not consider Barcelona as any other challenger, and this, the pinnacle of club football, as any other game?

If Arsenal were dwarfed by the occasion or the might of their opponent, they dare not show it. The north Londoners have been resurgent ever since Renee Slegers took charge ahead of matchday two of this competition, charging through some teams and fighting back against others.

“It has not been smooth sailing at all,” Slegers has acknowledged. “We’ve done some magical things and really good things under very high pressure. I think that shows what we’re capable of.”

They battled from 2-0 down against Real Madrid at the quarter-final stage and, even more stunningly, from 2-1 down against Lyon in the last four, just to earn the right to contest the final. Now is not the time for panic or doubt, it is an opportunity to bask in the glory of triumph.

Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports this week, defender-cum-creator Katie McCabe revealed her plans to do exactly that. “We go to Lisbon to win. We have no fear,” she said.

“We have to respect Barcelona; they have won three of the last four finals. The football they played against Chelsea [in the semi-final] was class, but we don’t fear any team.”

Nothing of what McCabe says is just rhetoric or front. Arsenal genuinely believe, in spite of facing Europe’s prime force, or perhaps because of it, that they can put on a show at the Estadio Jose Alvalade. Just to compete will require a performance bordering perfection. To outdo the Liga F giants, a feat no side has managed since matchday one of this year’s campaign, might need something more divine.

Since losing 2-0 at Manchester City, Barca have won nine straight Champions League games, including 4-1 home and away successes over Chelsea. That 8-2 demolition job was a clear indicator of the size of the task, and a prudent reminder of the Spanish side’s wonderfully abundant artistry. They are one goal short of equalling the competition’s scoring record of 45, set by Wolfsburg in 2013-14.

And yet there was one obvious positive Arsenal could glean from watching Chelsea falter so desperately: it wasn’t them. Barcelona rarely look vulnerable across 180 minutes because – and maybe even McCabe would concede this – they are peerless over the course. No team can live with their exhaustive quality across two legs, not even domestic-treble-winning Chelsea.

It is the reason the holders are featuring in their sixth final in seven years, and a record-equalling fifth in a row.

Some imagination is therefore necessary. Arsenal must see pictures and outcomes their opponents cannot. They must play with pure intuition, with autonomy, and put emphasis on their own weapons, buoyed by the fact this is not a two-legged marathon but a one-off 90-minute special.

Statistically speaking – and this is to add relevant context, if not much encouragement – it has actually been Barcelona’s worst campaign since 2018-19, with two defeats in the league and one to Man City in the group phase. At one point Real Madrid threatened to catch them in the title race before reality kicked in and made any suggestion of a different conclusion appear silly.

How, then, do Arsenal begin to even participate?

Well, their midfield has been significantly bolstered by a player who featured in all of Barcelona’s previous five finals: Mariona Caldentey. Slegers calls her “total football”. She excels in almost every creative category – a player who glides effortlessly across a football pitch and can hurt you from all angles. Her contribution has revitalised and recalibrated what Arsenal are capable of in the final third.

Alessia Russo has likewise been a beacon of Arsenal’s strength in forward areas. She has found the net eight times in Europe this term (including qualifying) and inspired the memorable comeback against Real Madrid with two decisive strikes. 12 WSL goals is a decent tally too, and enough to earn this year’s Golden Boot.

Both Caldentey and Russo were also on target when the Gunners hammered Lyon 4-1 in France in late April, and each give verve and spice to the way Arsenal attack, rotating and feeding one another’s threat.

Then there is the need to be unpredictable. Almost calculated but random at the same time. Fixed in a precise structure, hard to break down, but also with the licence to play free. Two players adept at that are Chloe Kelly and Caitlin Foord. Arsenal have a full repertoire of technical ability from wide if each can hit the right heights.

And even then, even if all those things happen, Barcelona are still a golden-age team. Their star power is unmatched.

Ewa Pajor scores for fun, Aitana Bonmati is beyond comparison in midfield – there is a reason she has monopolised the game’s individual awards in recent years. Her maestro display against Chelsea alone was enough to warrant a third straight Ballon d’Or Feminin. And there is little to add about the brilliance of renascent Alexia Putellas.

As McCabe rightly acknowledges, “we have to be mindful of their strengths, and they have strengths everywhere,” but Arsenal won’t, nor should they, bow to those powers.

The underdog tag has served well thus far. They enter Saturday’s final under the same banner.

To be taking part is a triumph in itself. To win truly would be remarkable.

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