Arsenal Women return to Barcelona on Thursday night for the first time since stunning them in the 2025 Champions League final, and this time Renee Slegers needs the result far more than the memory.
The Gunners are sixth in the Women’s Super League and 12 points off leaders Manchester City, but Europe has been a different story. They are fifth in the league phase with seven points from three games, unbeaten, and a result at the Camp Nou would go a long way towards a top-four finish and a place straight in the quarter-finals.
Barcelona have won all three of their games so far, scoring 19 goals. They are favourites again, just as they were in Lisbon.
Barcelona vs Arsenal kick-off time and venue
Date: Thursday 12 November 2026
Kick-off: 5.45pm UK time (6.45pm in Barcelona, 11.15pm IST)
Venue: Spotify Camp Nou, Barcelona
Competition: UEFA Women’s Champions League, league phase
The game was meant to be played on Wednesday but was pushed back a day because of a general strike in Spain. It is Arsenal Women’s first match at the Camp Nou, and around 1,000 fans are travelling from London. It is live on Disney+ in the UK.
Arsenal team news
Ona Batlle, who joined from Barcelona in the summer, travelled with the squad after missing Sunday’s 2-1 win at Anfield. Taylor Hinds came off late in that game, so Batlle’s fitness matters at full-back.
Stina Blackstenius, the match-winner in Lisbon, is out with an Achilles injury. Chloe Kelly is back training on grass after a hamstring problem, but Barcelona comes too soon for her. Daphne van Domselaar was left out of the Champions League squad list, so Misa keeps the gloves.
Mariona (hamstring), Michelle Agyemang (knee), Katie Reid (ankle) and Selina Cerci (knee) are all out too.
Barcelona team news
Barca are a different side from the one Arsenal beat in 2025. Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon left for London City Lionesses in the summer, Salma Paralluelo joined Lyon and Batlle crossed to Arsenal. Kerolin arrived from Manchester City.
Aitana Bonmati has been eased back in after a knee injury, and the conveyor belt keeps turning: Clara Serrajordi, 18, Vicky Lopez, 20, and defender Renee van Asten, 20, have all stepped up. Barcelona beat Real Madrid 7-0 in Liga F last month, so nobody should expect a team in transition.
What did Slegers say before Barcelona?
The Arsenal head coach knows what kind of night it will be. “We will have to suffer. We’ll have to put bodies on the lines. We’ll have to be really disciplined,” Slegers said. “But we have a lot of quality in our team as well, so we want to put our qualities and our threat onto Barcelona.”
She was also happy to look back on Lisbon, but only so far. “It’s one of the proudest moments. That performance was immense and it had so many facets to it… We’ve studied Barcelona and we’re in the here and now. This is a new game, a new moment,” she said.
Captain Kim Little was adamant the European run shows what this squad still is. “That doesn’t just disappear overnight or because you’ve had a bad run of results,” she told Sky Sports.
How Arsenal can hurt Barca again
Lisbon was won by crowding the middle, pressing every pass and forcing Barca wide. Arsenal faced 20 shots that day and kept every one out, with Leah Williamson’s block on Ewa Pajor the moment everyone remembers.
That plan needs the back line to be sharp, and it has not always been this season. The new high press has left defenders exposed, and Liverpool’s goal on Sunday came from a long ball in behind. Pajor, who has scored in eight Champions League games in a row, and Caroline Graham Hansen, on target in her last four league phase games, will punish the same gaps.
The flip side is that Arsenal will not face a low block. Plenty of WSL sides have sat deep against them and frustrated them. Barcelona will have the ball, and that leaves space to break into.
Key players
Alessia Russo
Russo has scored Arsenal’s last seven goals, including both at Anfield, and won Arsenal Women’s October Player of the Month award. It has been a good week for her off the pitch too, as Russo and Andrea Berta both picked up awards. Slegers wants others to chip in, but Russo is the one Barcelona will worry about.
Leah Williamson
The England captain has taken some criticism this season, but she was outstanding in Lisbon and led the side in clearances and interceptions at Anfield. Arsenal need that version of her again.
Ewa Pajor
The Polish striker is the danger for Barcelona. Eight successive Champions League games with a goal equals the competition record, and Williamson’s battle with her could settle the night.
Barcelona vs Arsenal predicted lineup
We expect Slegers to keep most of the side that won at Anfield, with Batlle coming in at full-back if she is ready. If not, Hinds or Lotte Wubben-Moy are the options. Seven of the starters at Liverpool also started the 2025 final, so the experience is there.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Misa; Fox, Williamson, Catley, Batlle; Little, Stanway; Smith, Baum, Foord; Russo
Our prediction
Barcelona are rightly favourites, and Arsenal’s form in the league gives little reason for confidence. But the Gunners are unbeaten in their last five games, and they have shown before that a one-off night against Barca is a different thing altogether. We think a point would be a fine result, and anything more would change the mood around Slegers’ season. Read our report from the Anfield win for how they got here.
Prediction: Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal
