Arsenal leaves Barça with a sliver of a nose in the Champions League final

Special Envoy to LisbonA changing of the guard in the reign of European football. Only the most pessimistic could have predicted that Barça, who had reached the Champions League final on the back of a thrashing, would fall to Arsenal (1-0), a team that hadn't played a decisive title match since 2007. Barça, which boasted four Ballon d'Ors with Alexia and Aitana and reigning champions of the last two Champions Leagues, was surprised in Lisbon by an uninhibited team that played its cards well and left the Catalans with a sliver of a nose. Barça attacked more, but Arsenal were more aggressive. A painful defeat for the more than 15,000 fans who painted Lisbon blaugrana and accompanied the team to the José Alvalade Stadium, which experienced an unexpected London celebration.

The closing stages of the final were painful, with the Blaugranas attacking desperately, frustrated after Stina Blackstenius scored 1-0 with fifteen minutes left in regulation time. In fact, a lack of precision in the final yards penalized Pere Romeu's team. The Blaugranas' first half was very weak, and although they came out determined to find goals after the restart, they were unsuccessful. Renée Slegers, Arsenal's promising coach, got the better of the Catalan coach. The decisive entrance of Blackstenius, a lung-spinner, revived the English team, who knew how to come out of the woodwork when Barça were most pressing and punished them with the Swede's goal from a play that had started from a corner cooked up on the counterattack. The Blaugranas tried until the end, but this team is accustomed to dominating, not in epic ways.

It was a very close final. It began with a few minutes of testing between the two teams, with Arsenal trying to show why they had made it to the final and trying to challenge Barça for possession. The equality of the first minutes seemed to show that both teams had a lot of offensive potential, but that the Gunners were a softer team defensively; it was just a misleading formation. And, in fact, the first serious scare of the match was provided by the Londoners. Irene Paredes, with a poor clearance at the near post, deflected the ball into the goal. While the center back was punching the turf and lamenting her mistake, the VAR review would bring the score back level. Kelly, who had made the cross, was offside.

Despite not changing the result, the action led to Arsenal's surge, which they had already demonstrated in the second leg of the semifinals, with a thrashing of Lyon, that they are a volcanic team. The following minutes were painful for Barça, who held off the rival's attacks thanks to a great save by Cata Coll from a shot from Frida Maanum from the crescent and a shot by Kim Little, which was blocked by the defense. While the Gunners They were growing in size, and Barça was missing continuity in their play. Aitana was the most inspired of Romeo's players, but she couldn't do anything on her own. With Pina more focused on defensive guarding than attacking, the Blaugranas couldn't connect with either Graham-Hansen or Pajor, who was having his own personal battle with the center backs.

Despite lacking precision between the posts, Barça managed to end the first half threateningly, although the Blaugrana machine wasn't quite working and lacked precision in the closing stages. Romeu's side went into the break with a lot of homework to do. After the restart, the Catalans came out determined to bite. The first to look for the net was Pina. First, with a long-range shot from a corner. Second, when after a delightful half-turn by Aitana, the forward from Montcada connected with a shot that Fox deflected onto the crossbar.

Even Ona Batlle tried her luck with a pair of powerful shots from the edge of the box. The second half began with a Barça siege that ended without reward. After opportunities for Pina and Ona, Aitana's shot deflected past Van Domselaar for a corner. Barça clearly dominated, and Alexia began to manipulate the ball in the attacking midfield, feeding her teammates to advance on goal. Romeo made a change to the bench: Salma came on for Pina. Montcada's save left the team without the competition's top scorer (10 goals), and Salma failed to provide the necessary momentum. Pajor would have had the chance to start the scoring, but he was slow with a point-blank shot.

Arsenal take the lead.

The minutes ticked by, and the score remained level, while nerves began to grip the fans as Arsenal began to rear their heads. Blackstenius, a renewed energy for the English team, once again made Cata Coll a hero, deflecting her shot with a . The response was immediate, with Pajor's header glancing off the crossbar. The blow came immediately after, with a goal from Blackstenius, chosen as the match's MVP, stemming from a corner and a through ball from Mead, who had also come off the bench. They had to battle against an unusual scenario: a goal down with 15 minutes remaining, and they had to do it without Mapi, who was injured. The epic outcome never came. The Blaugrana, who had attended the trophy presentation to Arsenal with sportsmanship, are no longer the queens of Europe.