Girls in Green skipper Katie McCabe has the chance to be the first Irish player to win a European Cup in the women’s game since 2007 when Arsenal take on back-to-back Women’s Champions League winners Barcelona in this year’s final in Lisbon on Saturday evening.
In 2007 three Irish players were part of an Arsenal team that overcame Swedish side Umea in the two legged final with Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Treacy central to that silverware success.
Byrne, the current Ireland goalkeeping coach, reflected on that win with arsenal.com this week.
"I remember being very busy in the two legs,” said Byrne. “But what I remember most is the changing room before both games. The girls. We were so united. I just knew that every single player in that room was going to give it their all we weren't going to let each other down."
In this year’s final Arsenal face a huge challenge against a team who have won three of the four least Champions Leagues and have equaled Lyon’s record of reaching five successive finals.
"They've got so much quality,” said McCabe speaking to UEFA.com. “They're so good with the ball – intricate passes, movement, they're fluid in their positioning. They've won it, they have the experience of that, so we have to respect that.”
However, the Gunners have been up for the challenge this season, staging two remarkable comebacks in the quarter-final against Real Madrid and against Lyon in the semi-final.
Renée Slegers’ side overturned a 2-0 away loss in the first leg to oust Real Madrid in the last eight, then going through with a brilliant 4-1 success at Lyon despite having been beaten 2-1 at home the weekend before.
"We have to respect their qualities and their strengths,” said McCabe about Barca, “but also we need to understand what we have as well and how good we can be going forward, how we control the tempo of games and our quality on the ball as well.
“For the neutral, I think it will be a really enjoyable spectacle, but I'm just so excited to hopefully walk out in front of a packed stadium and the Arsenal end cheering us on."
A number of the Irish players will be cheering on McCabe before travelling on to Türkiye for next week’s UEFA Nations League game. Emma Byrne will also be supporting McCabe and her former team and believes this Gunners side can emulate the 2007 Arsenal side.
“I'm bursting with excitement," admitted Byrne. "I'm going to Lisbon and I'll be right there in the stadium full of adrenaline. I've always said it‚ if there's one team that can outplay and beat Barcelona, it's the Arsenal."
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The last Irish player to play in a Champions League Final is John O’Shea. The current Republic of Ireland senior men’s assistant manager started in Manchester United’s 2-0 loss to Barcelona in 2009 in Rome. He was a non-playing substitute the previous season when United won the competition beating Chelsea on penalties in the final played in Moscow.
Caoimhin Kelleher remained on the bench in the 2019 final when Liverpool won the competition beating Spurs in Madrid and he was also a non-playing substitute in 2022 when they were runners up in the Stade de France final.
The last player capped at senior men’s international football level for the Republic of Ireland to win the Champions League was Steve Finnan - he was part of Liverpool’s 2008 European Cup win in Istanbul (and the defender also played in their 2007 final defeat to Milan in Athens).
extratime.com will be covering Saturday’s final from Lisbon. Kick-off in Sporting’s 50,000 capacity stadium in Lisbon – the Estádio José Alvalade – is 17:00 (Portuguese and Irish time).
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About Macdara Ferris
Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile