Asisat Oshoala And Barcelona Poised To Defeat Chelsea In The Historic Women's Champions League Final.

Barcelona will play Chelsea in the highly anticipated UEFA Women's Champions League final on Sunday 16 May at Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg at 8pm (NGA).

Neither team have previously lifted this trophy but the winners will be the first club to have clinched both the men's and women's UEFA Champions Leagues. 

Chelsea are in their first ever final, while Barcelona have reached the showpiece once before, losing 4-1 to seven-time winners Olympique Lyonnais in Budapest two years ago with Asisat Oshoala scoring the only goal which was not enough for the Spanish club, as it was like a mere consolation.

The captain of the Nigeria women's national team, joined the Barcelona femeni in January 2019, just immediately after she led the Super Falcons to clinch their 11th Africa Women's Cup of Nations title in Ghana 2018.

Oshoala has so far helped the Barcelona team dominate the Spanish league and become title contenders in Champions League over her time with the club. No Spanish club has ever won the UWCL title.

Reflecting on the past two years, Oshoala, believes they have learnt from their UEFA Women’s Champions League final loss to Lyon and are in the best form now.

speaking to the media this week ahead of their clash with Chelsea for the right to be crowned champions of Europe, the four time Africa Women's Footballer of the Year said: 

“Now, we have the experience of how European football is and also how a top game like this is played. I think we're going to be better with our tactics this year, how we go out and play and everything.

“For us, it was good. We played in the final 2019, we lost and then we picked up corrections from there.

“Come May 16, against Chelsea, I don’t think we’re going to make the same mistakes again, because we already learned from the past. We are a better team now than we were two years ago.”

When asked about Sunday’s game plan the 26-year-old added. "We're not changing anything. We're working on our own team. I'm sure Chelsea are working on themselves as well.

“When you hear the name Barcelona, you already know the kind of football the team plays. You already know what to expect. When you hear Chelsea, you already know the kind of football you expect.

“I think it's going to be a very, very interesting one because both teams have top stars around the world. It's not going to be a boring match, I promise.”

Oshoala netted the only goal for Barcelona, as they lost 2-1 in the quarter-final second leg tie to Manchester City in March, making it her fourth goal in this year's competition.

The Spanish side qualified for the semi-final on a (4-2 aggregate), having won 3-0 in the first leg.

Though Asisat Oshoala has managed to recover from her injury but is unlikely to start the game against Chelsea on Sunday, but believes she is ready to offer something that can help Barcelona clinch the trophy if they need.

Lluis Cortes' side, have been very dominant domestically this season, wrapping up a historic La Liga Iberdrola, Spain's top-flight for women's soccer, and claimed the title for the sixth time in the clubs history. 

The team are unbeaten winning all 25 of their league games this season with a remarkable 128 goals scored, and just five conceded. Twenty-six wins and 78 points out of a possible 78. 

They are desperate to take the next step into Europe for more silverware, having crashed out in the semi-final to Wolfsburg last season.

In their quest to be crowned champions of Europe for the first time in the clubs history, and also champions from a fifth different nation after Germany, Sweden, England and France, Barcelona will face an equally accomplished Chelsea squad. 

The Blues retained the Women’s Super League title last Sunday with a comfortable 5-0 win over Reading on the final day of the season.

It was a record breaking FAWSL title for the West London side, which saw them crowned champions of England for the fourth time, each of which has come in the last six years and surpassing Arsenal's three titles.

Like Barcelona, Chelsea are also looking to make history as the first English club since London rivals Arsenal won the Women's Champions League in 2007.

Chelsea defeated Bayern München (5-3 on agg) in the last four, meaning this will be the first final without either any German or French team since 2007,  and bringing to an end Lyon's five-year reign.

Due to current restrictions implemented by the local authorities in Sweden, the Womens’ Champions League final will be played behind closed doors  and therefore no tickets will be on sale.