Latest news with #UEFAWomen'sCup
Scotsman
31-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Champions League final TV: who are commentators, pundits?
TNT Sports will have an all-star line-up for its Champions League final coverage 👀 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Familiar voices are on Champions League duty on TNT Sports. Broadcaster's pundits and presenters have been confirmed. But who are they - and where do you know them from? The presenting line-up for the Champions League final has been confirmed. Viewers have been told how they can watch it for free this year. TNT Sports will be broadcasting the action from the Allianz Arena in Munich live. Paris Saint-Germain are taking on Inter Milan on one of football's biggest nights. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But who exactly will be providing commentary and analysis during the match? Here's all you need to know: Who are the presenters for the Champions League final? Laura Woods will be the face of Champions League coverage (Image: Getty Images) | Getty Images TNT Sports and Discovery+ will have two hosts for the match at the Allianz Arena tonight (May 31). Reshmin Chowdhury and Laura Woods are on presenting duties, FourFourTwo reports . Viewers will recognise Laura Woods from her presenting work across Sky Sports, ITV and TNT Sports. She has been the lead presenter of TNT's Champions League coverage this season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She has also hosted the broadcaster's boxing coverage. Laura has also presented for DAZN in the past. Reshmin Chowdhury is known for presenting Talksport's Premier League coverage on Saturday mornings. She has appeared on TNT Sport broadcasts of Champions League, Europa League and in the past FA Cup. Which pundits are on Champions League coverage? There will be plenty of familiar faces providing expert analysis during the Champions League final on TNT Sports and Discovery+. The panel will include Karen Carney, Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves. Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves both won the Champions League with Manchester United back during the 2007-08 season. While Karen Carney has also lifted Europe's top honour in the women's game during her time with Arsenal Women - back in 2006-07 when it was called the UEFA Women's Cup. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Who is on commentary duty for the Champions League final? Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist will be in the booth to commentate on all of the action during the match itself. Both will be familiar voices to viewers with Ally regularly being praised for his commentary by fans on social media. Have you got a story you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at . It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.
France 24
24-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
How 'calm' Arsenal dethroned women's Champions League giants Barca
Stina Blackstenius' second-half strike on the counter-attack was just reward for Arsenal's superb display at the Jose Avalade stadium as they kept their heads in sweltering heat to win 1-0. Leah Williamson excelled at the back and veteran Kim Little and former Barca midfielder Mariona Caldentey in particular helped shut down the Catalans' star-studded engine room, featuring two-time Ballon d'Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas. Three-time winners Barca have produced spectacular comebacks in the past, including in the 2023 Champions League final triumph over Wolfsburg, but Arsenal did not waver in the final stages. "It was fairly calm (in the dressing room) and that was one of the key things when you get to these big games," explained Little, who joined the club a year after Arsenal's only previous triumph, in 2007. "(Sleger's team-talks were) task-focussed, about what we were executing... small details on how we can stop them and some details around set pieces. "I think that showed in our performance that how we approached the game was very controlled, with little pointers of the belief that we have and the courage we wanted to show." Slegers was in Arsenal's youth academy as a player in 2007 when they won the competition -- back then the UEFA Women's Cup -- and said she had spoken to some important figures from that team, including coach Vik Akers and his assistant Emma Hayes, now manager of the United States' women's team. The selfless Dutch coach highlighted the impact of several figures who have been helping the Arsenal women's team to grow over the past 18 years since they last won the trophy. "I was at the club in 2007 so I have a little bit of an idea of where the club comes from, and I had lunch with Vic Akers this week, and it was fantastic to see him bring the perspective. "There's so many people who have been investing for such a long time, I'm just a very small part of it... "If you achieve something by yourself that's great, but if you achieve something together that's much greater." Hayes call Former Chelsea coach Hayes' side failed to get the better of Barcelona over two semi-final ties in 2023 and 2024, but did win one and draw one of the four matches. "I was in the academy so (Hayes) was my head coach... it's special to have spent that year with those legends, I really look up to them," said Slegers. "Emma I spoke to during the week... it was a great conversation, I did speak about Barcelona as well, and I've spoken to other coaches as well, and got their experiences of playing against Barcelona." Hayes' Chelsea did a good job of shutting down Putellas, Bonmati and Patri Guijarro, and Sleger said that was important in Lisbon. "They are the conductors, the engine... it's a really big challenge to stop them," she explained, saying Arsenal's other players chipped in to flood the midfield and help their own central trio. Slegers also said the team's game management was the "key to why we won today", and hailed her squad for pulling off everything they had planned. "(I'm) super proud, because you can have all these ideas in your head, show videos, use your tactics board, do it in training, but when the moment is actually there against an opponent that is so good, to then execute in the Champions League final, it says so much about the players," she added. Slegers was only appointed permanently in January after replacing Jonas Eidevall in October on an interim basis. "Things weren't going well, but to pick us up as a team and get us to a Champions League final alone, never mind win it, it's pretty incredible," said Arsenal winger Beth Mead. "It's exciting, obviously, moving forward to see what we can do next season now with her." The 36-year-old also said her players were hungry for more and the future could be 'scary' -- in a good way. "I think there's even more in this team, that's the scary part of it, we achieved something enormous today but I think there's still more to give," said Slegers. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Today
Russo leads Arsenal quest to slay Barcelona beast in Champions League final
soccer Arsenal must slay the Goliath of women's football when they face Barcelona in Saturday's Champions League final, but in-form striker Alessia Russo believes the "world class" Gunners can beat the all-conquering Catalans. Barca have cruised into a fifth consecutive Champions League final, thrashing English champions Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the last four, as they seek a fourth European crown in five years at Sporting Lisbon's Jose Alvalade stadium. Arsenal are the only English club to have ever won Europe's top prize, back when it was the UEFA Women's Cup back in 2007. But famous wins over Real Madrid and Lyon have confirmed the London side's rise back to forefront of the women's game, with the 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium now their primary home. Russo jumped ship from Manchester United to join the Arsenal project in 2023 on a free transfer, just months after the Red Devils turned down a then women's world record £500,000 ($671,000) bid by the Gunners. The 26-year-old had exploded onto the scene and become a national hero for her displays as a super sub in England's Euro 2022 trumph on home soil. She also led the line for the Lionesses with distinction as they reached the World Cup final a year later. But Russo struggled to match the hype of her arrival during a difficult first season as Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League group stages and finished third in the Women's Super League (WSL). The arrival of Renee Slegers to replace Jonas Eidevall as Arsenal boss, though, has sparked a transformation in both the club and Russo's fortunes. She was named as the football writers' women's player of the year earlier this month after sharing the WSL Golden Boot with Manchester City's Khadija Shaw on 12 goals. But it is in the Champions League Russo has really shone, scoring seven times to head into the final as the competition's second top scorer alongside team-mate Mariona Caldentey. That included a quickfire double against Madrid as Arsenal overcame a 2-0 first leg deficit to win 3-0 on a famous night at the Emirates and one in their shock 4-1 thrashing of Lyon on the road in the second leg of the semi-final. "Every forward will say that at some point they've obviously not scored as much as they'd have liked to, and as a striker you're often judged on your goals, and it's tough," Russo told talkSPORT. "I'll always say that I want to score more, I want to keep pushing. "I don't ever really think I'll be satisfied, but it's been nice, it's been good to get some consistency, and I think when I'm surrounded by world-class players that put brilliant balls into the box or slip great passes through, it's my job to just get on the end of it." Now comes the acid test of Arsenal's ascent against a side that has swept all before them in the past five years. "We know how good they are, we know how consistent they are on the highest level," added Russo. "I think when we're at our best, we're so good on the ball too. We have lots of different variety to our play and our attacks as well, so I think when we're on it, we can be world-class and I think we've shown that this year as well." © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Women's Champions League: Arsenal stun Lyon as thrashing sets up blockbuster final against Barcelona
Arsenal will take on holders Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final after a superb 4-1 victory at Lyon saw them triumph 5-3 over the eight-time winners on aggregate. The Gunners had made it into the last four by recovering from a 2-0 defeat in their quarter-final first leg at Real Madrid to win the second 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium. And Renee Slegers' side once again turned things around as they ruthlessly punished thoroughly out-of-sorts Lyon at Groupama Stadium, eight days on from the French team's 2-1 victory in north London. Lyon, who reached the final last season, had not lost in any competition this season before this remarkable hammering. The tie was level after five minutes via a fifth-minute Christiane Endler own goal, Mariona Caldentey put Arsenal in front with a stunning strike in first-half stoppage time, and they then made the most of Lyon sloppiness after the break as Alessia Russo and Caitlin Foord added finishes. Substitute Melchie Dumornay pulled a goal back for the hosts in the 81st minute but Lyon were unable to save themselves on an utterly miserable occasion for their boss Joe Montemurro against his former employers. Through to the final for a second time, 18 years on from winning the competition when it was known as the UEFA Women's Cup, Arsenal will face in Lisbon next month a Barcelona outfit who completed an 8-2 aggregate thrashing of Chelsea earlier on Sunday. "It means a lot to this incredible football club,' Arsenal captain Kim Little said. 'I'm excited and looking forward to representing this club in the final. "We have belief in this group and we are very good at executing our game plans. We did it fairly well in the first leg but not well enough - today we executed it very well and thoroughly deserved to win.
France 24
23-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Arsenal 'humble' but 'all-in' for women's Champions League final
The Catalan giants have reached six of the last seven finals and won the competition three times, while Arsenal last made it in 2007 for their maiden victory. Barca are on course for a repeat of last season's quadruple but Arsenal hope to be the sand in the gears in the Lisbon showpiece. "We want to show courage tomorrow... we respect Barcelona as a team, they are really, really difficult (to face)," Slegers told a news conference. "So we are very humble for the occasion, but also, we are here to win -- and we have to find ways to win." The 36-year-old coach, who turned around Arsenal's season after being appointed in October, said her team had to be alert at all times against their all-conquering opposition. "We need courage, we need discipline and we need to be switched on... and we have to believe in our capacity as well," continued Slegers. "Putting ourselves in a position to play this game tomorrow, it's just (been) so much work, that's us, but it's all of us, it's the people that have done this for such a long time. "We're so proud that all of us are going to do this tomorrow, and we're going to go all-in, for this challenge that we look forward to so much." The Arsenal squad had lunch earlier this week with the team that won the 2007 UEFA Women's Cup, and striker Alessia Russo said it was a "special" experience. "Any player who plays for Arsenal understands that it's a winning club, so ambitious, and wants to be at the top competing with the best," said the forward, who was named as the football writers' women's player of the year earlier this month. "We're very aware of what's come before us as well... we had lunch with some of the 2007 winners earlier in the week and to understand how much it still means to them is really special for us current players." 'Our standard' The 26-year-old England international has been in excellent form in recent months, netting seven Champions League goals, only behind Barcelona's Claudia Pino as the competition's top goalscorer. "We know Barcelona are a top side, they have won on the highest level consistently," continued Russo. "I have full belief in us as a team, we know what we are capable of." Arsenal lost against record eight-time winners Lyon in the first leg of their semi-final tie but bounced back with a remarkable 4-1 triumph in France to progress to the final. "Belief is something we've spoken about a lot as a team, and we've also found a lot of ways to win this season," said Russo. "It's been a season full of highs and lows and a lot of learning. "That performance out in Lyon is something we want to hold with us, we want that to be our standard. "It was special and it was a result where we needed to perform and we had no other choice, we wanted to go to the final." Skipper Kim Little scored in the first tie between these sides back in 2012, with Arsenal romping to a 7-0 triumph. "I don't have many memories from the games, but I know that my friend Jenny (Beattie) scored, and I scored in one of them as well," said the Scottish midfielder, 34.
