No British side had won this competition in the last 18 years, Chelsea coming closest in 2021 but eclipsed by the same opposition as the Gunners faced on Saturday evening.
They began the campaign by conceding five to Bayern Munich – partly the impetus for Eidevall’s departure before his former assistant Slegers would take over. To overcome Real Madrid in the quarters, they had to come from two goals down to win 3-2 and then lost the first leg of their semi-final at home to Lyon.
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The other is that Arsenal rode their luck after suffering a series of reality checks. The WSL has grown phenomenally in the past half-decade but English sides kept failing to get over the line on the continent – until now.
England head to Switzerland as defending champions but the consensus is that it will be even tougher than the tournament they won in 2022. Expect no 7-0s against Norway, with so many nations vastly improving in the intervening years. Spain are expected to be the main competition and yet Arsenal have made a huge statement on behalf of the Lionesses against a Barcelona team made up of eight Spanish internationals.
England recently managed a 1-0 win over Spain in the Nations League but the Champions League final almost felt as big a litmus test, an opportunity to see how Leah Williamson would contain Spain’s attack and at the other end, how Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead would trouble the back line. In the end it was Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius whose goal made the difference.
Arsenal made a huge statement to the rest of Europe (Photo: Getty)In Slegers, at least, English football can boast one of the women’s game’s most promising coaches. The Dutchwoman, 36, has attracted comparisons with Sarina Wiegman since taking over from Eidevall – having already won two league titles in Sweden with Rosengard.
Yet it is not a healthy precedent, nor is the near impossibility of newly promoted clubs staying in the WSL. Arsenal have finally ended a near two-decade curse but there is still plenty of work to do.
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