Barcelona face Arsenal for first time since 2025 final

Barcelona host Arsenal at Camp Nou on Thursday in the Women's Champions League, their first meeting since Arsenal defeated the reigning champions in the 2025 final.

The league-phase game kicks off at 17:45 GMT and marks Arsenal's first appearance at Camp Nou. The stadium remains a building site.

Barcelona entered Thursday with three wins and 19 goals from their league-phase games, BBC Sport reported. Arsenal stood fifth on seven points. ESPN said victory would put Barcelona top with their perfect record intact, but an Arsenal win would move them above Barcelona into second.

Barcelona coach Pere Romeu called Arsenal "a fantastic team with some very good players." "It's a difficult match, and we'll approach it knowing we're facing a great team and that we'll have to do things very well," he said.

Arsenal manager Renée Slegers said her players would need to suffer, put bodies on the line and be really disciplined.

Barcelona's scoring rate in Europe this season was 6.34 goals per game, compared with 4.62 across all competitions, according to The Guardian. Over the past year, they lost once in 53 games, falling 2-1 at Real Sociedad a few weeks ago.

Their domestic record was nine wins from 10 league matches. Arsenal occupied sixth place in the Women's Super League after winning three of nine.

Arsenal's form has improved recently. They went five games without a win before that run ended in October, then won 2-1 at Liverpool in the league on Nov. 8.

Arsenal have won three of five Champions League games against Barcelona, with the 2025 final the latest of those victories. Slegers had taken the permanent manager's job less than five months before the final.

The Guardian's Suzanne Wrack wrote that neither a 1-0 Arsenal victory nor a defeat by five at Camp Nou would be much of a surprise.

Barcelona took four trophies last season, with their fourth Champions League title among them. Several players from that team have since departed.

Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas moved to London City Lionesses in the summer, with defender Mapi León following her there, while Salma Paralluelo joined Lyon.

"There's an opportunity to make a new story and that's up to us," Barcelona's Esmee Brugts told BBC Sport about the departures. "So far, I've been quite happy with how it's going," she said.

Brugts, 23, arrived at Barcelona in 2023. She said a documentary she watched about Johan Cruyff showed that "it's exactly how he wanted to play."

Slegers said Barcelona's playing style had endured despite the changes. "With new players coming in and then rotating, their style of play stands up," she said. "We think we have quite a clear idea of what that could look like," Slegers said.

Slegers made one change to the side that beat Liverpool, selecting Frida Maanum in place of Olivia Smith. Arsenal said in its team news that Alessia Russo was expected to lead the attack, with Maanum at No 10 and Lisa Baum and Caitlin Foord on the wings.

Aitana Bonmatí, another three-time Ballon d'Or winner, began on Barcelona's bench. Midfielder Clara Serrajordi, 18, and defender Renée van Asten, 20, were in the starting lineup.

Ona Batlle returned from injury to Arsenal's bench after joining the club from Barcelona in the summer.