English giants, Arsenal, have caused a major upset after claiming the 2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League title thanks to a 1-0 win over heavy favourites, FC Barcelona Femeni, on Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Gunners went into the game up against the back-to-back defending European champions, who were looking to wrap up their season by completing a treble, having won the Spanish league title and Copa del Rey.
Despite the odds ahead of the game and Barca dominating the opening exchanges, it was Arsenal that had the ball in the net first midway through the first half when a Chloe Kelly cross into the area went in off Irene Paredes but was ruled out as Kelly was offside, much to Barca’s relief.
The ruled out goal gave Arsenal some belief as Frieda Maanum tested Barca keeper, Catalina Coll, from long range minutes later, but failed to find the back of the net as both teams went into the break level.
Barcelona continued to edge possession in the second period and came close to scoring only to be denied by the crossbar four minutes into the second half, though after that chance, Arsenal held firm defensively better than they did in the opening minutes of the first half.
Arsenal boss, Renee Slegers, brought on Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius after 68 minutes to refresh the attack and it produced the desired result seven minutes later when the substitutes combined to put the Gunners ahead.
Barcelona failed to properly deal with a corner-kick, with the ball eventually falling to Mead, whose sliced pass found Blackstenius in the area to slot home from close range and seal a famous win for the English side.
The win gives Arsenal a second Champions League title, 18 years since winning the first one in 2007, stopping Barcelona from winning a third consecutive title in Europe.