Arsenal Women “cannot outplay” Barcelona Women in Saturday’s blockbuster Women’s Champions League final, but the Gunners can stun the Blaugrana if they can display a ruthless edge in the final third, Charles Watts believes.
Renee Slegers‘s side take on the mighty Catalan giants at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, where the showpiece match represents the culmination of Arsenal’s extraordinary renaissance since the 36-year-old replaced Jonas Eidevall.
However, Arsenal have lost their way defensively ahead of the final, conceding 12 goals across their last three Women’s Super League games of the season, although the latter ended in a 4-3 victory over Manchester United.
Such statistics make for grim reading against a Barcelona side who dismantled WSL Invincibles Chelsea 8-2 over two legs in the semi-finals, but Watts has insisted that the reigning European champions can be defeated.
Asked by Sports Mole if Arsenal can conquer the Catalans, Watts responded: “Yeah, they can! It’s going to be incredibly difficult. You don’t get a bigger test than this. Barcelona, a fearsome side, what they did to Chelsea in the semi-final, it couldn’t be any more apparent how good, strong and dangerous they are.
“But it’s 90 minutes, it’s football, anything can happen. Renee Slegers is very good tactically. She’ll have a very clear plan on what she can do and how she can stay in touch with Barcelona. You can’t go there and take the game to Barca, you can’t outplay them. But they’ve shown they are beatable.
Watts: ‘Lyon win gives Arsenal massive belief for Champions League final
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“You’ve just got to stay in that game. Don’t find yourself 2-0 down early on; stay in it, frustrate them, grow into the game. And then you’re going to have to be very, very clinical.
“That’s going to be so, so key, how good Arsenal are in both boxes. Mikel Arteta always says it when he talks about Champions League football, and it’s exactly the same in the women’s game.”
Arsenal were fighting an uphill battle to even make the final after losing the first leg of their semi against Lyon at the Emirates, but Slegers’s side produced a breathtaking second-leg display to win 4-1 and 5-3 on aggregate against the former all-conquering French outfit.
Watts expects Slegers to highlight that extraordinary fightback in her pre-match team talk, adding: “When you do get hold of the ball, because you’re not going to have that much, you’ve got to use it well.
“If they do that, then they will believe. If you go to Lyon in a semi-final, you’re trailing, and you produce a performance like that, the belief that can give you is absolutely massive.
“This is a tougher test, but you can always fall back on what happened against Lyon. I’m sure that’ll be the team talk that Renee gives. The players will go out there and believe. You don’t get opportunities like this every day. So you’ve got to really try and seize it. Fingers crossed they can.”
Have Arsenal ever won the Women’s Champions League?
Arsenal have not won Europe’s top tournament since it was rebranded as the Women’s Champions League, but they did conquer the continent when the competition was known as the UEFA Women’s Cup in 2006-07.
Eighteen years ago, Arsenal faced Swedish outfit Umea in a two-legged final, where Alex Scott struck the only goal in a 1-0 first-leg success away from home before a 0-0 draw at Borehamwood eight days later propelled the Gunners to their first European title.
Since then, however, Barcelona have come up trumps in three of the last four editions of the Women’s Champions League, and they could become just the second side to win three in a row after Lyon triumphed in five straight finals from 2016 to 2020.
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