Arsenal Ladies Make History with Second Women’s Champions League Title
====================================================================================
In a thrilling final match, Arsenal Ladies have emerged victorious, claiming their second Women’s Champions League title with a 1-0 win over Barcelona. The decisive goal was scored by Stina Blackstenius, marking a historic moment for the team and ending an 18-year wait for continental glory.
According to Arsenal.com, the team was ecstatic about their achievement, with Katie McCabe expressing her emotions: “I’m just in disbelief to be honest – no actually I do believe it because we suffered together today. Barcelona threw absolutely everything at us, and we kept together. We rode the storm, and our gamechangers came on and made sure we got runs in behind, and then Stina got the goal.”
The team’s journey to the top was not without its challenges. McCabe continued, “The word underdogs got thrown around during the week but we deserved to be in this final. We’ve been in it since the very start having to qualify for the tournament, and we had some difficult results in the group stage but we bounced back in the knockout rounds and we kept going. We were resilient and persistent. We were ruthless in front of goal and we needed just one chance today and Stina took it.”
Alessia Russo also spoke about the team’s determination, stating: “We worked so hard and it just feels amazing. We had to suffer a lot, and they’re a top side. We knew coming into this game that we’d have to suffer, and there would be moments where we wouldn’t have the ball, and we’d have to be content with not having the ball.” Russo added that the team’s substitutes, including Stina, Beth, Lina, and Lotte, were crucial in turning the game around.
The team’s supporters played a significant role in their success, with Russo praising them: “Our supporters are amazing, literally every single game, home, away, cold, whatever, it doesn’t matter, they’re there. I think we might be celebrating with them at the Emirates on Monday!”
Stina Blackstenius, the goal-scorer, was overjoyed with the win, saying: “I just can’t believe it, all of it. It’s such a team performance from the very beginning until the very end and I just can’t believe we won the Champions League and we get to celebrate it.” She attributed her goal to the team’s strategy, stating: “They said I should try to run in behind and try to stretch them. But this is, once again, a big, big team performance. I’m so proud of our journey and how we came here and how we managed the game today as well.”
Kelly Smith, a member of the coaching staff, reflected on the team’s performance: “Renee, Aaron, and our coaching staff spent a hard two weeks putting the gameplan together, but the players absolutely nailed it today. I thought we had the better chances in the first half. Obviously Barcelona would have come out stronger, turned it up a notch, but wow, what a squad this is.” Smith also praised the team’s preparation, stating: “We’ve been doing a lot of individual finishing, basic stuff, finishing across the goal, left foot, right foot, working in four or five-minute blocks, just individualised stuff. It’s paid off – we’ve won the Champions League.”
The team’s victory marks a significant milestone in their history, and they will look to build on this success in the future. As Arsenal.com reports, the team will celebrate their win with their supporters at the Emirates on Monday.
The Arsenal Football Club Limited holds the copyright for this article. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
Source link
