Arsenal's incredible journey to Women's Champions League final against Barcelona

Arsenal's journey to the Women's Champions League final against Barcelona this weekend has been anything but smooth. From the first qualifying round in September to Saturday's climactic showdown the reigning champions in Lisbon, here's how they got there:

Qualifying

After finishing third in the 2023-24 Women's Super League, faced a challenging path through two qualifying rounds against three teams before even reaching the group stage of the Champions League. They kicked off with a resounding 6-0 victory over Rangers, featuring a four-goal masterclass from Caitlin Foord.

They followed this up with a narrow 1-0 win against Rosenborg thanks to Frida Maanum. And a second-round encounter with Hacken saw them overturn a 1-0 deficit in Sweden with a convincing 4-0 triumph in the second leg.

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Group stage

Arsenal's Group C campaign didn't begin well, with a heavy 5-2 defeat at Bayern Munich. This loss, coupled with a 2-1 setback against Chelsea at home six days later, saw manager Jonas Eidevall quit.

Under the guidance of Renee Slegers, however, Arsenal turned their fortunes around, winning five consecutive matches. They secured victories over Valerenga and Juventus both home and away, followed by a remarkable comeback to topple Bayern Munich 3-2, ensuring they finished as group leaders.

Quarter-finals

Arsenal took on Real Madrid in the final eight, and found themselves trailing 2-0 after the first leg at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium, where the pitch conditions were heavily criticised by ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright, who labelled it a "disgrace".

But the Gunners managed to turn the tide in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, with a brace from Alessia Russo and a goal from Mariona Caldentey securing a 3-0 victory, and a 3-2 aggregate win. Chloe Kelly, who joined on loan from Manchester City in January, provided two assists.

Semi-finals

The first leg against Lyon, under the management of former Gunners boss Joe Montemurro, at the Emirates saw Arsenal lose 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Melchie Dumornay. But they again staged a second-leg comeback with an impressive performance France.

Ruthlessly capitalising on their opponents' poor form, Slegers' team secured a 4-1 victory on the day, and a 5-3 aggregate win, The tie was level within just five minutes due to an own goal by Lyon's Christiane Endler.

Caldentey then put Arsenal ahead with a stunning strike in the first-half stoppage time. The Gunners capitalised on Lyon's sloppiness after the break, with Russo and Foord adding goals before Dumornay scored a consolation for the hosts.

"The way it was executed was very high-level. I'm very happy and very proud," Slegers recently told Sky Sports News when asked about the Lyon clash. "(2007) is 18 years ago. "

"The club has invested for so long in women's football and everybody is so happy with all the work that has been done across those years that we're at this point again. "It's very big for a lot of people, and of course for the players and staff that are doing the work.

"It was a very special moment because so much preparation, so much work has gone into these two games.