'I'll probably fly out to Ibiza in the morning' - Katie McCabe revels in Champions League glory

The 42

24-05-2025

KATIE MCCABE CORRECTED herself after initially saying she was in 'disbelief' at Arsenal's shock 1-0 Women's Champions League final success over Barcelona at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade Stadium.
'Well, no, actually, I believe it', McCabe told TNT Sport, 'because we suffered together today.
'Barcelona threw absolutely everything at us', McCabe added, before apologising for a stray F-bomb on live TV, 'but we kept together. We rode it out, we rode the storm, and our game-changers came on and we made sure we got runs in behind, and Stina got the goal in the end. It was unbelievable.'
Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius' 74th-minute goal ultimately proved decisive against the favoured Catalan giants, with Renee Slegers' Gunners dethroning the side that had won three of the last four Champions League titles.
It was Arsenal's first Champions League success since 2007, the second in their history, with Republic of Ireland captain McCabe playing the full 98 minutes in the Portuguese capital.
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'It's unbelievable to give this to our fans, to our families, to the players that have been here for so long, to the players that have come and gone,' said McCabe, who was draped in an Irish tricolour.
"It's an unbelievable day for the club" ✨
Katie McCabe reflects on a career-defining achievement for Arsenal Women as UWCL champions.
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/CMqUFf8f7D — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 24, 2025
The Dubliner went on to pay tribute to former teammates such as TNT pundit Fara Williams, whom she credited — along with Emma Byrne and Emma Mitchell — for taking her under their tutelage in North London when she was a 'young, naive kid that came over from Dublin'.
England legend Williams, who shared a moment with her former Gunners teammate before interviewing McCabe alongside presenter Becky Ives at pitchside, said of their embrace: 'I was just saying to her how proud I am of Katie.
'Katie's been at Arsenal now for 10 years and done so much for the club, and probably doesn't get the credit she deserves,' added Williams, who won an FA Cup with Arsenal alongside McCabe in 2016.
'She's a phenomenal athlete. She wears her heart on her sleeve. I think we saw that today in her performance, in her celebration, and in her talking emotionally after the game.'
While Pere Romeu's Barca were heavily fancied to seal their fourth European title in five years against English opponents who finished a distant second in the Women's Super League, McCabe said that she and her Arsenal teammates had never subscribed to that consensus.
The Gunners, who topped a group including Bayern Munich and overcame first-leg deficits against both Real Madrid and Lyon in the previous two knockout rounds, were imbued by the hard road to Lisbon, the 29-year-old explained.
'The word got thrown around during the week, 'underdogs', but we deserved to be in this final,' said McCabe. 'We've been in this since the very start, having to qualify for the tournament. We had to get good results in the group stage. In the knockout rounds, we bounced back, we kept going, we kept being resilient, persistent.
'We were ruthless in front of goal. We just needed one chance today and Stina took it.'
Asked by presenter Ives where in Lisbon she and her Arsenal teammates intended to celebrate, McCabe replied: 'An undisclosed location… I'll probably fly out to Ibiza in the morning, I'd say!'