Arsenal ready to “go all-in” against Barcelona in Champions League final
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Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers says her side are approaching Saturday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final against holders Barcelona with humility — but with firm belief they can cause a major upset in Lisbon.
Barcelona, the dominant force in European women’s football, are chasing a second consecutive quadruple, having reached six of the last seven finals and lifted the trophy three times. Arsenal, meanwhile, are seeking to recreate the glory of 2007 when they last won the competition.
“We want to show courage,” said Slegers at the pre-match press conference. “We respect Barcelona — they are really, really difficult to face. So we are very humble for the occasion, but also, we are here to win — and we have to find ways to win.”
Slegers, who took charge in October and has overseen a remarkable turnaround in Arsenal’s season, emphasised the need for total focus against the Spanish giants.
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“We need courage, we need discipline, and we need to be switched on. And we have to believe in our capacity,” she said. “Putting ourselves in this position took so much work from everyone — the players, the staff, and those who have supported us over the years. We’re proud to be here and we’re going all-in for this challenge.”
As part of their preparations, the current Arsenal squad met with members of the club’s 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup-winning side earlier this week — a moment striker Alessia Russo described as “special.”
The Arsenal train ahead of the UEFA Champions League Women’s final on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/QFB4pzvwrR
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“Any player who plays for Arsenal understands that it’s a winning club, so ambitious, and wants to be at the top,” said Russo, recently named the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Player of the Year. “To sit with the 2007 winners and see how much it still means to them — it was really special.”
Russo has been in outstanding form this season, scoring seven goals in the Champions League — just one behind Barcelona’s Claudia Pina in the competition’s scoring charts. She believes Arsenal’s comeback win over Lyon in the semi-finals is proof the team can rise to the biggest occasions.
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“We’ve talked a lot about belief as a team,” Russo said. “That performance in Lyon — winning 4-1 away — is the standard we want to hold ourselves to. We had no choice but to deliver, and we did. Now we want to carry that belief into the final.”
Club captain Kim Little, who featured in Arsenal’s dominant 7-0 victory over Barcelona back in 2012, reflected on that historic win while looking forward to creating new memories on Saturday.
“I don’t remember much from those games, but I know my friend Jenny Beattie scored, and I got one too,” said the 34-year-old midfielder. “I’m hoping to create more memories tomorrow.”
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