After a hard-fought season, a change of management and a series of comebacks, Arsenal have been dubbed the Ballon D’or Women’s Team of the Year. They won the Champions League in May after a long, drawn-out battle with Barcelona where Stina Blackstenius managed to get a goal past the Spanish side.
In the Women’s Super League last season, the Gunners faced a climb back up to the top half of the table after a disappointing start to the season with former head coach Jonas Eidevall who resigned in October. Rising up the ranks came Renee Slegers who took over as interim coach and took the permanent position in January leading them back up to finish second in the league behind Chelsea.
They became known as ‘The Comeback Queens’ after losing in the first leg of their quarter and semi finals to Real Madrid and Olympic Lyonnais respectively, and then bouncing back in the second legs to advance the whole way to the final. They entered the final as the underdogs and held off the previous champions, Barcelona, to eventually claw a 1-0 victory in the 74th minute.
Arsenal’s journey to this award has been one of comebacks and resilience, and many in the women’s football community will agree that the Gunners are definitely deserving winners of this award.
WRITTEN BY: Louisa Beunderman
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