MK-born football star Leah Williamson stars as Arsenal beat Barcelona in Champions League final

Milton Keynes-born footballer Leah Williamson played the whole game as Arsenal won the Women’s Champions League by beating Barcelona.

Williamson helped the Gunners win the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Barcelona in Lisbon, with Arsenal pulling off a shock win against a Barcelona team that had been chasing a third straight Women’s Champions League title.

Stina Blackstenius scored the game’s only goal after 74 minutes, with the Swede receiving Beth Mead’s pass and scoring.

Victory was Arsenal’s first win in a major women’s European competition since 2007, when the Champions League was then called the UEFA Women’s Cup. The Gunners are also noteworthy as the only team from England to have won the trophy.

Arsenal had previously seen a goal disallowed after an offside in the build-up to an own goal by Barcelona’s Irene Paredes, but were able to keep quiet Barcelona stars such as Ballon d’or winners Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati.

Firm resistance after Arsenal’s goal to keep Barcelona’s attack from registering an equaliser would also get the job done in order to secure the title for the London-based club.

In a post-match interview with the BBC, Williamson voiced her delight to get the job done.

She said, “I have a rule not to look at the scoreboard and broke it about three times, but it was just incredible.

“Barcelona are an incredible team and we hadn’t put a foot wrong all game and I just didn’t want that to happen in the 87th minute. So I’m glad we didn’t.

“Every domestic trophy, I’ve won with Arsenal now. On a personal level, I’m proud of that, but 18 years is a long time to wait for something. We took so much pride in being the only one in the land and proud of that legacy, and we’ve just done it again.”

Williamson’s haul of trophies at Arsenal saw her add a European trophy to medals in domestic competitions, with the defender having previously won a Women’s Super League, 2 FA Cups and 4 League Cup titles in her playing career.

She was also captain when England won the Women’s Euros in 2022, with the Lionesses preparing to defend their crown in Switzerland later this year at the tournament’s next edition.