Arsenal’s long journey to the ‘ultimate trophy’ of the Women’s Champions League

Little and England captain Leah Williamson were two of the Gunners best players in Portugal and they jointly lifted the trophy amid the celebrations on the pitch.

For Williamson, who held the Women’s Euros trophy aloft three years ago following England’s 2-1 win over Germany at Wembley, it was a special moment at the club she has always supported.

When Arsenal won the title in 2007, a 10-year-old Williamson had been one of the mascots for the second leg match against Swedish side Umea.

“Eighteen years is a long time to wait for something,” said the now 28-year-old. “I’ve won every domestic trophy with Arsenal now so on a personal level I’m proud of that.

“We turned up to try and do a job and we did it and we’re taking the trophy home. I have a rule not to look at the scoreboard and I broke it three times.”

Barcelona, who won the competition in each of the past two seasons, put Arsenal under pressure for large parts of the final.

However, the 67th-minute introduction of Beth Mead and Blackstenius proved crucial as the England forward set up the Swede to score the winning goal.

“A lot of happy tears,” said an emotional Mead, who celebrated with her family. “I’m proud of being able to do what we did and see my dad at the end.

“It’s been a rough few years, obviously missing my mum [who passed away in January 2023] and it’s the first time I’ve had a big final without her being here. She very much was watching over me.”