Arsenal win 'ultimate trophy' with 'more to come'

Captain Kim Little says Arsenal's Women's Champions League triumph is the "best moment" of her career, while Gunners manager Renee Slegers believes this is just the start for the club.

Substitute Stina Blackstenius scored the only goal as Arsenal beat reigning champions Barcelona 1-0 in the Lisbon final.

It is a second title for the only English women's side to be champions of Europe, adding to their 2007 victory.

"It felt like this was our year," said Little. "It's truly special, winning the ultimate trophy.

"It's definitely the best moment of my career. I've been at the club a long time - I signed a year after they won in 2007 so to still be at the club and see how much it has done to progress the women's game, it's very special."

This was a trophy the Gunners could not have expected to win when they began the competition in the first qualifying round back in September.

The final was their 15th match of a rollercoaster campaign.

A humiliating 5-2 loss to Bayern Munich in October was then-manager Jonas Eidevall's last European game in charge with Slegers moving up from assistant coach, firstly as interim manager before being awarded the job on a full-time basis in January.

"It's been a fantastic time," she said. "There are so many things that have happened and so many hard times we've gone through together. We've always fought back and the belief was growing every single day.

"Of course we're going to reflect and take it in. We've achieved something enormous but there's even more in this team. That's almost the scary part."

Little and England captain Leah Williamson were two of the Gunners best players in Portugal and they jointly lifted the trophy amid the celebrations on the pitch.

For Williamson, who held the Women's Euros trophy aloft three years ago following England's 2-1 win over Germany at Wembley, it was a special moment at the club she has always supported.

When Arsenal won the title in 2007, a 10-year-old Williamson had been one of the mascots for the second leg match against Swedish side Umea.

"Eighteen years is a long time to wait for something," said the now 28-year-old. "I've won every domestic trophy with Arsenal now so on a personal level I'm proud of that.

"We turned up to try and do a job and we did it and we're taking the trophy home. I have a rule not to look at the scoreboard and I broke it three times."

Barcelona, who won the competition in each of the past two seasons, put Arsenal under pressure for large parts of the final.

However, the 67th-minute introduction of Beth Mead and Blackstenius proved crucial as the England forward set up the Swede to score the winning goal.

"A lot of happy tears," said an emotional Mead, who celebrated with her family. "I'm proud of being able to do what we did and see my dad at the end.

"It's been a rough few years, obviously missing my mum [who passed away in January 2023] and it's the first time I've had a big final without her being here. She very much was watching over me."

Former Gunners defender Jen Beattie said: "Arsenal came into this as complete underdogs. You're talking about a team that has dominated, won the past two Champions Leagues, stormed to the final, incredible aggregate scores against Bayern Munich and Chelsea - who dominated the WSL this year.

"To win the Champions League, you're marking your place in history. They will become legends."

Former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said: "I honestly could not be happier for Arsenal. This is an outrageous achievement.

"Against the European champions, to execute the gameplan to the perfect degree of measurement. The processes were there and the quality was there. They produced the unthinkable, they destroyed Barcelona.

"Arsenal defended like true warriors and it is the most incredible story. They deserve every ounce of this. Nobody will believe the impact this will have."

Karen Carney was part of the Arsenal side that won the 2007 title and felt the Gunners' latest achievement would motivate future generations.

"Maybe this group has inspired the next little girl to think she can go and win a Champions League," she said.

"I keep going back to Leah Williamson being a ballgirl. Who's going to be that next little girl to lift it? It's absolutely brilliant."

Arsenal’s triumph will be celebrated with an event at Armoury Square Monday.

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, speaking on TNT Sports, said the achievement had "saved the club" after the "embarrassment" of the men's side failing to win a trophy in 2024-25.

He added: "We've got something to celebrate. Of course they need a parade.

"Nobody gave them a chance. Even I was saying it's going to be tough.

"They [Barcelona] average four goals a game.

"We needed to score goals to make sure we beat them, in the end it was only one. Everyone wrote them off. They deserve everything they are getting, all the accolades.

"This is a magnificent achievement. Look how far it's come. I remember when the Champions League was at Boreham Wood. Look where we are and Arsenal winning it, it's amazing."