UEFA Women’s Champions League final 2025: Can Arsenal capitalise on the year of the underdogs?

A football club of Arsenal’s stature can scarcely be considered an underdog going into any game, but the UEFA Women’s Champions League final may be considered an exception.

The current campaign has been far from smooth sailing, with this their last chance to secure silverware in 2024/25.

For their opponents, FC Barcelona, it has been quite the contrary, as they sailed to domestic victories in the Liga F and Supercopa de Espana.

Given the Catalan club come into the final looking for their third consecutive title and having dispatched Wolfsburg and Chelsea with ease in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively, they are undoubtedly the favourites.

This year in European football, however, has been the year of the underdogs.

On the women’s side, Hibernian emerged victors in the Scottish Women’s Premier League to clinch their first league title in 18 years.

In men’s football, Italian side Bologna ended a 51-year drought, Newcastle delivered their first major trophy for 70 years, while Crystal Palace defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup to their 119-year wait for glory.

While the Gunners have not had to endure quite the same timeframe to lift domestic silverware, the last time they won a European title was 18 years ago.

Could a similar tale of glory be written in the stars for the North London club?

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