Queen change

Barcelona players during a training session prior to the final in Gothenburg.Adam Ihse / TT / EFE

There is no clearer example that women's football has awakened in Europe than a Champions League final between Chelsea and Barcelona (9pm, TV3, Barça TV and Gol).

If the European Cup began as a duel between Scandinavians and Germans to consolidate itself as an attractive competition under the hegemony of Olympique Lyonnais (seven titles, five in a row from 2016 to 2020), a new champion will emerge from Gothenburg.

The Scandinavians, in any case, did not want to lose: there is no better place to honor football than a Champions League final in Gothenburg, a kind of Swedish Wembley, where the women's team plays.

While in the memory of Barça the defeat in Budapest 2019 against Lyon (1-4) is still fresh, English football also has only one precedent in the Champions League final: Arsenal were crowned champions in 2007. Now their neighbor from London takes the baton after 14 years. The British formula does not change: strength in defense, power in attack, few in the world with the vertigo of the Australian Sam Kerr, the Norwegian Pernille Harder and the English Fran Kirby. "For their game, there are probably no better strikers in the world," they underline from the Barça technical area. Barça boosted his physique, although he did not change his skin. And the strength of Chelsea's attack contrasts with the technical subtlety of Graham Hansen, Hermoso and Martens. “In the end, it all comes down to a clash of styles. The one who imposes his game will win ”,they reiterate from Barcelona.

More information

• Alexia Putellas: "Today there are more girls than boys doing sports"

• From playing in the parking lot to being in the elite of Europe

"We have a good plan to stop Barça," recalls Magda Eriksson, leader of Chelsea.

The European champions, whether under the Swedish, German, French or English flag, have physical power as their common thread.

Account pending for the Catalans;

his style is orphaned of victories in Europe.

“We don't want to let her escape;

now is the time ”, highlights captain Vicky Losada.

The optimism of the Barça dressing room contrasts with the caution of coach Lluís Cortés: “The biggest mistake would be to believe that the final has been won.

To have confidence is not to be confident ”.

The cold and rain in Gothenburg do not worry so much within Barça - "it is irrelevant and I even see it as something in favor of moving the ball better", says Losada -, as the annoyances of Alexia Putellas, team helm and symbol of the collective game, who could not train due to muscular problems.

Beyond a duel of styles, women's football that expands in Europe wins.

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