Build a statue for Renee Slegers! Winners & losers as awesome Arsenal show Chelsea EXACTLY how to beat Barcelona as Women's Champions League triumph provides career-completing night for iconic Kim Little

It's fair to say that Stina Blackstenius is not the most clinical striker in the world. The Sweden international can have her off-days, she can stray offside far too often at times and she can miss chances that you'd really expect her to put away. But she also has a sense of the big moment and an ability to deliver huge goals when it matters the most.

She did that on Saturday, to secure Arsenal's first Champions League crown in 18 years. It was the latest in a long line of decisive contributions she has made for the Gunners, added to a list that also features the extra-time winner in the the 2024 League Cup final, the decisive strike when Arsenal beat Bayern Munich in the 2022-23 Champions League quarter-finals and three dramatically late winners in three separate league fixtures against Manchester City in the past two-and-a-half years.

Blackstenius might not have the consistency that some would like, and it is these crowning moments she so often delivers that can make those low performances more frustrating. But the suggestion that is sometimes floated around, that Arsenal need to move on from her and upgrade behind Alessia Russo in the No.9 role, ignores the fact that the 29-year-old is capable of stepping up when her team needs her the most.

Coming into this final, it felt like Alexia Putellas was the front-runner for the Ballon d'Or. The two-time Golden Ball winner has had an exceptional domestic season - with only Barca's No.9, Ewa Pajor, directly involved in more goals in Liga F - and she had been superb in the Catalans' charge for a third-successive Champions League crown, too.

Lisbon, then, was Putellas' chance to further strengthen that case, to put in a superb performance to grab the headlines and firmly cement herself as the leading candidate for the game's ultimate invididual accolade. It felt like she had unfinished business in this game as well, having started Barca's last two finals as a substitute, owing to recent injuries.

But she couldn't. Despite often looking like one of the most likely to carve out a match-defining moment, and creating more chances than any other player on the pitch, Putellas couldn't grab this game by the scruff of the neck and drag Barca to victory. That's not why her team lost this game - but it does hurt her chances of winning that Ballon d'Or again, for now.

Similar can be said of Aitana Bonmati. Winner of the last two Ballons d'Or, she has not delivered an individual season that has stood out as arguably the most impressive of any player in Europe - that has probably been Putellas. Bonmati has, however, been right up there with her Barca team-mate and, as such, came into the final as another main contender for the Golden Ball.

But, again, nor could she really take hold of this game and pull the underwhelming Catalans over the line. Daphne van Domselaar's best save came from a smart effort by Bonmati, and she only created one fewer chance than Putellas' game-leading four. However, that match-winning moment just didn't come in a game that, at least for now, reduced the probability of Bonmati winning a third Ballon d'Or in a row.

It's not been an easy season for Beth Mead. She's had to endure dips in form, some injury niggles here and there, and while the January arrival of Chloe Kelly does have its positives for Mead, it has also negatively impacted the number of games she has started. On Saturday, for example, it was Kelly who started for Arsenal on the right, with Mead on the bench.

But what the England winger did when she came off that bench was a reminder of what she brings to the table. The cool-headedness she showed to slip Blackstenius through on goal with a wonderful disguised pass was remarkable, and was an important to Arsenal's win as the finish itself.

There's been a lot of speculation in recent weeks and months about Mead's future. The Gunners do not disclose contract lengths and so it's not known when the 30-year-old's current deal expires, but her last renewal was back in late 2022. Even if she is not out of contract this summer, some of her struggles with form have made people question whether she could leave the club. However, Saturday showed, again, what she can do and how she can change a game. Slegers will be desperate to get that out of her on a more consistent basis next term - and Mead will be just as determined in that goal, too.

Though they could still complete a domestic treble by beating Atletico Madrid in next month's Copa de la Reina final, this has not been as impressive a season for Barcelona as those it has followed. A first-ever defeat to Real Madrid might not have cost the Catalans their league title, but it was a dark day in the campaign - their darkest until Saturday's loss. While it does highlight some of the progress made by Las Blancas, it also serves to underline some of the frustrations that have surrounded Pere Romeu's first year in charge of Barca.

Romeu was promoted from his role as assistant last summer, when head coach Jonatan Giraldez chose to take up a new challenge in the United States with the Washington Spirit. It's a method that worked when hiring Giraldez, who was an assistant under Lluis Cortes, the man who delivered Barca's first European title. It also worked when appointing Cortes. But there have been concerns about the level Barca have shown in their first season under Romeu.

That might seem harsh, as he has still guided the team to two trophies, potentially three, and only narrowly lost this Champions League final, in his first season as a head coach at the age of 31. Plus, Cortes and Giraldez also lost their first finals in this competition. When they accumulated more experience, they were able to take Barca to new heights. The question is whether or not the club believes Romeu is capable of that.

It is absolutely incredible that Renee Slegers has guided Arsenal to just their second-ever Champions League title. The Gunners had to fight against so many odds to get to Lisbon, starting with the manner in which the Dutchwoman got the job as head coach. That was because the start to this season was so poor that her predecessor, Jonas Eidevall, stepped down from his role. Through one win from four to begin the Women's Super League campaign and a worrying 5-2 loss at Bayern Munich, Arsenal looked like anything but contenders in Europe.

That is until Slegers came in and completely turned things around. She steadied the ship fantastically, instilling confidence in the players and making minimal changes, so not to cause too much disruption. Then, over time, she started to make her mark, putting Katie McCabe in a system that allowed her to flourish and finding the perfect home for Mariona Caldentey, the Gunners' marquee summer signing who arrived from none other than Barcelona.

It allowed Arsenal to get back on track in the league, to seal second-place and guarantee themselves entry to next year's Champions League, and then shock everyone in Lisbon by beating the European champions. She had to adapt in the final, too, masterminding a game plan that could nullify the best team on the continent but also allow the Gunners to pose problems. It was perfect, and executed to a similar level of quality by her players to complete one of the best managerial jobs done anywhere in football this season.

There were a lot of great stories among the celebrations in Lisbon on Saturday. There was Leah Williamson, the lifelong Gooner whose dad, a Tottenham fan, wore an Arsenal shirt for the first time in his life as he watched his daughter win the Champions League. There was Katie McCabe, whose days at the club looked numbered at one point, only for her to mark her 10th year in north London with a remarkable individual season that ended in European glory. But perhaps the best story of all is that of Kim Little.

Little signed for Arsenal in early 2008, just a few months after their first Champions League triumph - back when it was still called the UEFA Women's Cup. She has racked up hundreds of appearances for the club, broke countless records and, domestically, won everything there is to win several times over. All that was missing was that European triumph.

A Scotland international, success was never easy for Little to come by on that stage. While players like Williamson have become European champions with their countries, Little has been at the forefront of making history just by helping her national team qualifying for a World Cup and a European Championship. Perhaps because of that, she hasn't always got the plaudits she's deserved on a wider scale, despite those that have played with the midfielder regularly describing her as one of the best players in the world.

None of that individual stuff will have mattered to Little, though. She has always been about the team and that was evident in her performance in Lisbon on Saturday. A magician when she gets on the ball, the 34-year-old had to do a lot of hard work out of possession in this game in order for Arsenal to succeed - and she did exactly that, disrupting the best midfield trio in the world. Her reward? The completion of her Arsenal trophy cabinet. The reward for her team-mates? Further evidence to show everyone just why they believe Little is one of the greatest midfielders the game has ever seen.

There must have been some frustrated Chelsea fans watching this final. Only last month, the Blues took on Barcelona in the semi-finals of this competition and were completely dismantled in an 8-2 aggregate defeat. Arsenal, meanwhile, were able to stifle the Catalans brilliantly, limiting their ability to create much at all as they went on to lift a trophy that their London rivals have been desperately pursuing for a decade now.

In that time, Chelsea have become the dominant force in English women's football, winning the last six WSL titles, four of the last five FA Cups and three of the last six League Cups, reaching the final of the latter competition on those three occasions they didn't win it. Arsenal, on the other hand, have toiled since their last WSL triumph in 2019, only able to win two League Cups in the time since. So how did they beat Chelsea in the race to be the next English team to win the Champions League? That is the question that all associated with the Blues will be asking themselves tonight.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will continue to bask in the glory of being the only team in the country to have won this competition.