Arsenal's women seal Champions League glory
Stina Blackstenius played the role of super sub as her goal helped Arsenal clinch its second UEFA Women's Champions League title with a 1-0 win over holder Barcelona.
Blackstenius made an instant impact from the bench, striking the decisive blow seven minutes after her introduction into the action at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The Gunners, featuring in their first European final since winning the competition in 2007, made a nervy start to proceedings, but quickly settled against Pere Romeu's team.
They thought they had edged ahead in the 23rd minute when Frida Maanum's cross was turned into her own net by Irene Paredes, but her blushes were spared by the offside flag, with the Arsenal attacker collecting the ball beyond the Barca defence.
Maanum was involved again moments later as Arsenal pushed for the opening goal, but her drilled effort from 25 yards out was acrobatically tipped over by Cata Coll.
Barcelona improved after the break and went within inches of taking the lead shortly after the restart, but Claudia Pina saw her strike deflected on to the crossbar.
Renee Slegers turned to her bench in the 67th minute and introduced Blackstenius and Beth Mead, and those changes proved a stroke of genius.
Blackstenius had forced a huge save from Coll moments after entering the action, but she got herself on the scoresheet merely seconds later.
After a corner was cleared, Mead collected the ball on the edge of the box and sent a clever reverse pass into Blackstenius, who fired into the bottom-left corner.
Barcelona piled on the pressure as it tried to force extra-time, but Arsenal held on after seven minutes of stoppage to set up a party in Lisbon.
Slegers cited Arsenal's belief as the key to victory.
The 36-year-old became the permanent head coach in January, signing a one-and-a-half-year deal, and made history by leading Arsenal to European glory.
"We knew it was going to be a game where momentum shifts because we respect Barcelona, who they are, and how good they are on the ball," she said.
"But we also know how good we are. We knew momentum was going to shift. Maybe other people were thinking something else but that's what we believed.
"We spoke about getting through the first 10-20 minutes and managing the game because they normally come out fast.
"They came here confident and with all respect, we had to manage that phase of the game.
"In all the phases that happened we showed the mentality, the resilience, the effectiveness in all our actions and the belief was incredible."
While the players celebrated around her, Slegers was quick to turn her attentions to next season's Women's Super League, having guided the team to second this year.
The Gunners last won the WSL in 2018-2019 under Joe Montemurro, and Slegers believes her team's European triumph will be a solid foundation to build on domestically.
"We want to keep on building from this. We believe in who we are and what we do and we want to keep on building and keep on going next season," she said.
"Of course a club like Arsenal wants to win trophies."
