Arsenal W vs Barcelona W prediction: EUROPE: Champions League Women – Play Offs betting tips on match 2025-05-23 16:00.
[p]All roads lead to Lisbon for the UEFA Women’s Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona. The Gunners will make the trip to Portugal as the only English outfit to win the competition, with that triumph coming way back in 2006/07. Long outsiders to end that drought, Arsenal have overcome great adversity on the way here, overturning first leg deficits in their quarter and semi-final ties against Real Madrid and Lyon respectively. [/p]
[p]Finishing second in this season’s Women’s Super League, Arsenal find themselves as the underdogs in the wake of some rather lacklustre form across their last five competitive matches (W2, L3). Conceding at least three goals in each of their last three outings, Arsenal may need a strong showing from their forwards if they’re to succeed here after failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their last six matches. [/p]
[p]Providing the opposition are heavy favourites Barcelona, who brushed aside Chelsea 8-2 in the semi final and are now seeking their fourth Champions League triumph in what will be their 100th European game. Victory would be rather fitting for the Catalan club given that their very first two games on the continent were against Arsenal back in 2012/13, which ended in a bruising 7-0 aggregate defeat at the time. [/p]
[p]Avenging those defeats with a victory here could set them up for a historic treble after already securing La Liga F and with the Copa de la Reina final next month. Barcelona could make history here too, as after winning their last nine Champions League games, they could become the first team to ever win ten in a row in this competition, and having already won ten successive games in all competitions, history beckons here. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: WSL Player of the Year for 2024/25 and former Barcelona star Mariona Caldentey could prove vital for Arsenal here, especially given that she’s scored in four of their last five continental matches. Alèxia Putellas has also netted four goals across her last five competitive games, and she has scored in three of her five final appearances in the Champions League (2021, 2022 and 2024), with only two players having ever done so on four separate occasions. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Five of the last six Women’s Champions League finals produced over 3.5 goals within 90 minutes, while four also saw both teams score. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Matthew Billon[/i][/p]