“Just one more!”
“One more,” Mariona Caldentey agreed, hugging Katie McCabe after arriving back in Hertfordshire following our semi-final win in Lyon.
Fast forward to Friday, May 24 and spirits are high as we board a flight to Lisbon for our first UEFA Women’s Champions League final in 18 years.
Daphne van Domselaar gives our club photographers a run for their money, snapping away as her teammates get on the plane, including Alessia Russo who spent last night at the Footballer of the Year awards.
Read more Russo named FWA Footballer of the Year
We’re using the final period of time before Airplane Mode is switched on to get as much of our pre-match web content ready as possible. It’s been a busy week building up to the biggest game of the season, but it’s not every year you have a Champions League final to look forward to.
We’ve spent the week looking back at the 2007 winners of the UEFA Women’s Cup. Leah Williamson, a mascot that day, was among those witnessing a wall of good luck messages at the Sobha Realty Training Centre before our departure for Portugal. It served as another reminder of how much this team means to so many, including everyone’s favourite canine companion, Win.
A smaller poster version of the wall is printed in St Albans and brought to Lisbon to adorn our hotel dining room, ensuring our supporters are with us every step of the way.
Through the highs and lows, come rain or shine, those in red and white have seen us overcome adversity too many times to count this season. For those who watched us get knocked out of the semi-finals by Wolfsburg in 2023, this is the ultimate remedy.
After landing, as is often the case for men’s and women’s Champions League away games, it’s straight off to the stadium for the pre-match press conference, where all the reporters are gathered to get their quotes from Renee Slegers, Alessia Russo and Kim Little.
Back at the hotel, we spend the evening finishing up the press conference coverage and tucking into some food.
Laptops are out all night with photographers, video editors and social media members alike working hard to bring supporters a plethora of content from overseas.
Then it’s matchday. Alex Scott marks the occasion by sharing some photos on Instagram of our 2007 final win, featuring our very own club photographer David Price, which players give him stick for at breakfast!
Eventually, we race off to the stadium. Estadio Jose Alvalade, the home of Sporting CP, was the venue for one of our men’s Champions League games this season, so we’re already familiar with how long it takes to get up to the press box, which is situated right at the top of the stands. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, yours truly opts to climb seven flights of stairs, arriving just in time to see players running out for pre-match warm-ups.
It dawns on me, as we begin our session in the shade, that Barcelona’s players might be more acclimatised to Portugal’s heat than those of us who spend most of our time in England!
Thankfully, that doesn’t take into account the fresh legs of Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius.
After withstanding an onslaught of Barcelona attacks, particularly during the second half, our super subs combine and Stina, no stranger to a winner in a cup final, nestles us into a late lead.
Renee will never show off about such tactical tweaks, but it must be incredibly satisfying for any head coach when the introduction of two players results in the changing of a game, to win a Champions League final no less.
Four added minutes somehow becomes a painful eight, but eventually, the full-time whistle is blown. We’ve done it, against all the odds.
Read more Watch the moment we were crowned UWCL winners!
We publish our match report, send out a push notification and get the Arsenal.com homepage updated as quickly as possible, with the assistance of members of the media team back home. Then it’s back down to the ground floor to go pitchside for post-match reactions.
The celebrations speak for themselves, and singing North London Forever with our supporters never gets old. We catch up with Laia Codina, Chloe Kelly, Leah Williamson, Steph Catley and Renee for interviews, with the latter being interrupted by a warm embrace from Ian Wright.
The dressing room scenes are as wild as you’d expect and, one slice of pizza courtesy of Frimmy later, we find our bus back to the hotel where the party is just getting started. Celebrations run all through the night with Jess Glynne getting on stage for an exclusive performance.
When she said Vic was going to come up and sing with her I thought she meant Vic Akers! Alas, it was Pelova who blessed the room with her dulcet tones.
The following morning, social media revealed Katie McCabe had recreated that iconic meme with Chloe Kelly, this time with a big old trophy.
Read more How we reacted to our UWCL win on socials
It’s an early start to fly back to Luton and there are a few croaky voices and sore throats of course, but nothing a Strepsil can’t soothe! Other cough sweets are available.
Before getting to enjoy a hard-earned rest though, everyone will take part in the the cherry on top of the whole weekend - a celebration event with a trophy lift outside Emirates Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday.
The streets are coloured with red and white as we approach our home, our anthem once again ringing in the ears. After some wonderful moments with supporters and players in unison, we stop by for a quick chat with Alex Scott, who scored the winning goal for our first European cup all those years ago.
“Everyone wrote this team off in the final, like they did for us in 2007,” she said.
“What a way to prove everyone wrong.”
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