Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Barcelona take on Arsenal in Champions League final
Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati during the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final, second-leg match at Stamford Bridge, London, last month

BARCELONA are aiming to complete a three-peat of Women’s Champions League titles and win their fourth European crown in five years when they face Arsenal in Lisbon tomorrow.

Barcelona are out to reaffirm their status as the dominant force in European women’s football after finally beating Lyon and successfully defending their title in last year’s final. 

The squad’s possession-hungry and high-scoring attack is led from the midfield by Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas and several other members of Spain’s World Cup-winning team that beat England in the 2023 final.

Barcelona will be playing their sixth Champions League final in seven seasons and a record-equalling fifth in a row at Lisbon’s 50,000-capacity Estadio Jose Alvalade. The Catalan club has the chance to become the only team other than Lyon to lift the European Cup in three consecutive years.

Standing in their way is an Arsenal side that has excelled as a spoiler this campaign and hope they can pull off another upset and win their second European title.

“They’re a fantastic team and they’ve obviously got the recent history to prove it,” Arsenal defender Leah Williamson said about Barcelona in the buildup to the final. “We respect them a lot, but it’s a final, so everybody turns up and everybody gives their best.”

Barcelona have rolled to a sixth consecutive Liga F title and reached another Copa de la Reina final, but at the same time they have proven beatable. Their home unbeaten run in Liga F came to an end after a record 64 games this season, where they lost to Real Madrid for the first time in 19 clasicos since their top rival founded a women’s team. It also started the Champions League with a rare group stage loss to Manchester City.

Arsenal remains the only English team to win the biggest title in women’s club football after claiming Uefa’s Women’s Cup in 2007 when they beat Umea, two years before the tournament was reformatted and renamed the Women’s Champions League.

Arsenal may be the underdog, but the club is likely comfortable with that role given their recent run of comebacks.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 27, 2025
Formula One / 27 July 2025
27 July 2025

Grand Prix delayed by one hour and 20 minutes due to heavy rain in the Ardennes

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank before the pre-season friendly match at Kenilworth Road, Luton. Picture date: Saturday July 26, 202
Men’s Football / 27 July 2025
27 July 2025
Bundee Aki, Finn Russell and Jamison Gibson-Park of the British and Irish Lions celebrate a series victory following the Lions Tour 2025, second test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, July 26, 2025
Men’s Rugby Union / 27 July 2025
27 July 2025
Similar stories
Umea' Marta da Silva lifts the trophy after winning the UEFA
Women’s football / 19 March 2025
19 March 2025
As the transformation of the game in Europe continues, Umea IK is among the unfashionable clubs of yesteryear who know they can no longer compete
Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso leaves after testifying at
Women’s Football / 3 February 2025
3 February 2025
England's Lucy Bronze, April 5, 2024
Women’s football / 11 September 2024
11 September 2024
Chelsea defender sets sights on leading club to European glory this season