Arsenal won the Champions League again after 18 years

Standing in the colorful confetti flying all over the sky, Arsenal women's football coach Reneeni Sledges' tears rolled down her cheeks, and she still couldn't believe what she had witnessed.

Just now, her team defeated European giant Barcelona 1-0 in Lisbon, winning the UEFA Women's Champions League trophy again after 18 years. The last time they won the championship in 2007, the event was called the UEFA Women's Cup.

Nine months ago, Sliggs was also an assistant coach of Arsenal women's football team. At that time, they lost to Sweden's Hegen in the first leg of the second round of the Women's Champions League qualifiers, and almost lost the qualification to participate in the Women's Champions League main match.

No one expected that they would win the championship through the hurdles, and Sledges, who was usually calm, could not suppress the expression of his emotions. Last week, major British newspapers recalled Arsenal's 2007 championship journey, and Sledgers's team also had lunch with members of that team, recalling this special moment.

They have overcome many difficulties this season and know that victory in Portugal requires miracles, so they seek comfort and inspiration in this way.

Arsenal ranked third in the Women's Super League last season, which means they must go through three rounds of qualifying to enter this year's Women's Champions League. They are the first team in women's football team to win the championship after playing 15 games.

Arsenal is seen as a "weak team", and even their final rival Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati admitted that she was surprised by Arsenal's victory over Lyon in the semi-finals. Few people think Sledgers' team has a chance to beat the defending champion in the finals.

Arsenal only won one of the first four games of the British Women's Super League this season and lost to Bayern Munich in the women's Champions League group stage. Fans' anger grew. At that time, head coach Jonas Edval had no choice but to resign.

As an assistant coach, Sledgers came up and quickly "stabilized the situation." They beat Valerenga 4-1 in the second round of the women's UEFA Champions League group stage, and their results continued to rise.

Sledgers became the interim head coach in October last year. In the first 11 games she coached, Arsenal women's football team won 10 and drew 1. The club finally straightened her. It was January 2025.

As the season progressed, Arsenal's momentum became stronger and stronger, and they entered the knockout stage of the women's football team's UEFA Champions League, which is the quarterfinals.

They lost to Real Madrid and Lyon in the first leg of the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and then reversed and eliminated their opponents in the second leg, so they won the nickname of "Queen of Reversal". They went beyond everyone's expectations and entered the Women's Champions League final last Saturday by reversing.

For Sledgers and her team, entering the finals is already a victory, which is an unattainable goal in itself. As she said before the final, they “did something magical” before they got there.

Arsenal laid the red carpet for the final, and the club's co-founder Josh Kroenke flew from Denver and came to Lisbon to watch the game with executive vice chairman Tim Lewis, managing director Richard Galic and women's football director Claire Whitley.

club legends were also invited, and the players from the Youth Training Academy sat in the stands to experience their future in advance. In addition, about 4,500 fans rushed from London.

supporters gathered on Pink Street, a colorful street near the port of Lisbon - heavy makeup and noise from time to time.

Even England goalkeeper Mary Ups flew in, wearing an Arsenal jersey with the name of her good friend Alesia Russo printed behind her.

They all came to the grand event, but few dared to dream of victory. Their mission is to defeat Barcelona women's football team, which wants to achieve three consecutive championships in the women's football team, which is widely regarded as the best women's football club in the world, with potential Ballon d'Or winners in almost every position.

Barcelona is full of confidence. This game is nothing special, it is just another final.

However, under Sledges' leadership, Arsenal's confidence continued to increase. People at the

club talked about the impact Sledgers' calmness had on the players, and how she inspired each player to show her best performance.

People talk about the "freedom" of the team atmosphere, and everyone can fully express themselves. During the pre-match press conference, most of Russo and captain Kim Little focused on their “unity” and “faith.”

Sledgers' plan is meticulous. Little said they tried to imitate Barcelona's run during training, hoping to find a solution. After a few failures, they finally found a solution.

"The plan was perfectly executed in the game, and as a football player, there was nothing better than that," Little said. "In the final, we were very controlled, we had some guidance on beliefs, and we knew we needed it."

For this final, Sledgers did his homework. Earlier last week, she visited 2007 Arsenal women's assistant coach Emma Hayes, who played against Barcelona many times while coaching at Chelsea.

Sledgers also communicated with Arsenal coach Vick Akers, who won the Women's Champions League in 2007, while her assistant conducted a separate analysis of three Barcelona midfielders to find out their strengths and weaknesses.

"Barcelona has few weaknesses, their level is very high. We looked at how to best exploit these weaknesses,” Sliggs said. “We used every means we could to disrupt their plans and always stick to what we wanted to do, and game management was the key to our victory. ”

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After overcoming many difficulties and achieving many achievements this season, Sledgers said that she believes there will be more achievements in the future.

She said: "The victory in this game is of great significance to everyone who contributes to it, and to the future." This inspires us and shows our belief that if you are part of the Arsenal women’s football team, you should pursue the trophy – and that’s what we want to do. ”

Little admitted that it may take several days to accept their achievements. On May 26, the club celebrated with fans outside the Emirates Stadium, and their success aroused a strong response.

Arsenal Women's Football Team spent 18 years to return to the top of Europe. In the past 18 years, their fan base has grown significantly, which also provides them with a platform to continue moving forward.

This season, Arsenal Women's Football Team has 8 English Women's Super League and 3 Women's Champions League home games were held at the Emirates Stadium, with an average attendance of 29,000 people. The club plans to hold all the home games of English Women's Super League next season at the Emirates Stadium.

Next, Arsenal women's football executives hope to use the influence of the women's football team's Champions League championship to recruit players in the transfer window. They invited four chief scouts to discover talents around the world, but in terms of financial resources, they are still quite different from Chelsea, the champion of the English Women's Super League this season.

They found that their development path was flawed, and the rise of youth training talents was not very smooth. Now they are seeking to loan youth training players who have potential but cannot play for the game for the time being.

Lisbon's victory is a tangible example, proving that nothing is impossible when everyone works together.

Arsenal has no intention of stagnating.