With the UEFA Women’s Champions League final coming up against Barcelona in Lisbon this weekend, let’s remind ourselves how we made it to the final stage of the competition.
Finishing third in the Barclays Women’s Super League last season meant we would have to go through the first and second qualifying rounds for Europe this term, and we thankfully made short work of Rangers with a 6-0 win in the first round semi-final before beating Rosenborg 1-0 in the final.
**Arsenal 6-0 Rangers**
**September 4, 2024**
Caitlin Foord headed us in front in the 16th minute and that lead was doubled by Foord for her brace in the second half, curling in from close range.
Alessia Russo got in on the act to make it 3-0 before Katie McCabe’s cross was volleyed in by Foord for her hat-trick.
Kim Little made it five from the penalty spot and Rosa Kafaji’s late effort was parried into the path of Foord who found the back of the net for the fourth time.
**Arsenal 1-0 Rosenborg**
**September 7, 2024**
Frida Maanum was the difference-maker during the tie which saw us overcome a stoic Norwegian side, as she was in the right place at the right time to capitalise on a defensive error from one of Foord’s crosses.
The second qualifying round was initially less straightforward, as we fell to a 1-0 defeat away to BK Hacken in the first leg, but a 4-0 win at Borehamwood in the second leg saw us comfortably progress to the group stage in the end.
**BK Hacken 1-0 Arsenal**
**September 18, 2024**
Tabby Tindell got the only goal of the game in the first leg after we were unlucky not to open the scoring when Kafaji hit the crossbar and Beth Mead had an effort saved from close range.
**Arsenal 4-0 BK Hacken**
**September 26, 2024**
Lia Walti kicked off the scoring with a left-footed screamer from distance going in off the underside of the crossbar, before Mariona Caldentey bagged her first goal in an Arsenal shirt.
In the second half, Mead and Maanum then rounded off the win in style in the pouring rain at Meadow Park.
Thankfully the way we began the group stage would not be a sign of things to come, as we suffered a disappointing 5-2 defeat away to Bayern Munich.
**Bayern Munich 5-2 Arsenal**
**October 9, 2024**
We took the lead through Mariona Caldentey but, after Bayern went ahead and Laia Codina levelled the scoring, the the hosts turned everything around in the second half, courtesy of a Pernille Harder hat-trick.
That loss was followed by five wins though as we put four past Valerenga and Juventus, before beating the latter 1-0 and the former 3-1 ahead of our revenge in a 3-2 win over Bayern.
**Arsenal 4-1 Valerenga**
**October 16, 2024**
Goals from Emily Fox, Foord, Mariona and Russo were enough to see off Norwegian champions Valerenga and bring us back to winning ways.
Fox gave us a dream start to the fixture after just 70 seconds, scoring her first Arsenal goal with a close-range tap-in. It would be through our top scorer, Foord, that we would eventually double our advantage, sweeping the ball into the roof of the net.
Five minutes later, we were guilty of a lapse in concentration that allowed Valerenga to get a goal back. The Norwegian's side's high press finally bore fruit and Olaug Tvedten managed to beat the outstretched leg of Codina and the gloves of Daphne van Domselaar to hit the target.
Mariona got the goal to give us daylight in the 85th minute. A beautifully threaded ball from Russo found Maanum storming towards goal. Stina Blackstenius found Mariona with a quick pass and our Spaniard rifled the ball home. Russo finally got her goal in stoppage time to make it 4-1. Mariona was there once again, feeding Russo with a trivela pass and our number 23 slotting the ball through the keeper's leg to complete the victory.
**Juventus 0-4 Arsenal**
**November 12, 2024**
Goals from Maanum, Blackstenius, Mariona and Foord gave us all three points, pushing us up to second in Group C.
With slick passing that typified our attacking play in the first-half, Foord fed a perfectly weighted ball through to an onrushing Maanum and our Norwegian tapped home.
We eventually found our second goal through Blackstenius, who blasted the ball into the roof of the net after a quick run into the box. Less than five minutes later, it was three. Mariona, who injected a new lease of life into the squad off the bench, hit an emphatic finish from the edge of the box.
We weren’t ready to sign off yet, however. After already bagging an assist, Foord finally got a goal of her own. Our number 19 tapped home from close range, assisted by her fellow Aussie, Kyra Cooney-Cross.
**Arsenal 1-0 Juventus**
**November 21, 2024**
We reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League courtesy of Lina Hurtig's 89th-minute winner against Juventus.
Blackstenius' cross was bundled in by Hurtig with just one minute left to play.
**Valerenga 1-3 Arsenal**
**December 12, 2024**
Russo, on a spectacular run of form in front of goal, gave us the lead. Maanum drove goalwards and found our number 23 on the edge of the area. Russo cut inside and with her right foot found the bottom corner with precision and power.
It wasn’t long before the provider became the scorer. Foord’s fine work on the right wing found Maanum lying in wait in the penalty area. Our Norwegian's resulting strike proved too powerful for the Valerenga goalkeeper to deny.
Foord’s pace and footwork once again proved vital in spearheading the counter-attack and our Aussie whipped in a perfect cross to the back post for Russo to bag her second goal.
The hosts pulled one back as some good play around the penalty area unlocked Tilde Lindwall near the six-yard box, and she rifled the ball past Manuela Zinsberger to make it 3-1.
**Arsenal 3-2 Bayern Munich**
**December 18, 2024**
Mariona won the match with a late penalty and Russo was on the scoresheet once again in a victory that put us through to the Champions League quarter finals as group winners.
Our Gunners matched the German side’s intensity and it paid off for the perfect start. McCabe’s work on the wing earned us a corner in the seventh minute, which she then delivered into a busy six-yard box to force an own goal from Bayern Munich’s captain Glodis Viggosdottir.
The visitors did find the equaliser from a set-piece, as Magdalena Eriksson clambered over Russo to bundle the ball in at the far post. Eriksson poked home Bayern's second but, quick as a flash, we were level once more. Russo sprung into action once again to thump home from a McCabe corner.
In the 85th minute, there was a twist in the tale. The referee pointed to the spot after Bayern were deemed to have handled the ball inside the box and Mariona stepped up, burying her penalty with aplomb.
The knockout phase tested our character and comebackability when we went 2-0 down to Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter-finals, but a historic night at Emirates Stadium saw us turn the tie on its head with a 3-0 victory thanks to second-half goals from Russo and Mariona.
**Real Madrid 2-0 Arsenal**
**March 18, 2025**
Madrid struck on the counter in the 22nd minute as Caroline Weir picked the ball up in the middle of the park and unlocked Linda Caicedo. The Ecuadorian shrugged off Fox to slot past Zinsberger for the opener.
We dug deep as the game entered its final phase, but luck in the final third frustratingly evaded us time and time again. Just as it seemed as though our chances in the boxes would finally lead to a goal, Madrid broke through once more and substitute Athenea del Castillo buried the ball past Zinsberger's outstretched glove.
**Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid**
**March 26, 2024**
We produced a performance for the ages on an historic night in N5 as three goals in 14 minutes at the start of the second half saw us come from 2-0 down to beat Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Two Chloe Kelly crosses were dispatched with aplomb by Russo and Mariona as our dominant display got the big goals it so richly deserved, before Russo made it three from a McCabe free-kick.
That incredible habit of turning things around was demonstrated again in the semi-finals as we fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon. But we again produced an outstanding performance to win 4-1 in France, securing a 5-3 victory on aggregate to make it to our first final since 2007.
**Arsenal 1-2 Lyon**
**April 19, 2025**
Kadidiatou Diani gave Lyon a 17th-minute lead at Emirates Stadium, but Mariona equalised from the penalty spot late on.
We were only level for four minutes though, as Melchie Dumornay put Lyon ahead again with eight minutes remaining.
**Lyon 1-4 Arsenal**
**April 27, 2025**
We reached the final of the Champions League for the first time since 2007 in style with a 4-1 win away to Lyon in the second leg of the semi-finals, coming from behind to win the tie 5-3 on aggregate.
A Kelly corner forced a Christiane Endler own goal to give us the perfect start in France, and Mariona scored a screamer at the end of the opening 45 minutes to send us into the break full of confidence.
When it came to protecting that lead, it seemed the best form of defence was attack as Russo struck our third immediately after half-time, and Foord capitalised on a defensive mistake to create pandemonium among those in red and white, enough to ensure Melchie Dumornay's 81st-minute goal was nothing more than a consolation.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.