Having three Champions League titles “doesn’t mean you’re going to win tomorrow,” cautions Alexia Putellas as Barça prepare to face Arsenal | OneFootball

Alexia Putellas warned against letting complacency creep in as Barcelona prepare to take on Arsenal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final on Saturday.

Lisbon’s Estádio José Alvalade will host the match, which also happens to be Barça’s 100th game in the competition – and reports suggest that Pere Romeu’s side will be backed by more than 15,000 travelling supporters.

Barcelona could lift the UWCL trophy for the third consecutive season if they prevail against the Gunners on Saturday, and while competing in finals is now a regular occurrence for the Catalan giants, it’s a far cry from their humble beginnings in the competition 13 years ago.

Putellas played in Barça’s first-ever UWCL match, which coincidentally was against Arsenal, who emerged as comfortable 7-0 aggregate winners over two legs. While she joked that “we didn’t really have to remember the final result,” the two-time Ballon d’Or Féminin winner insisted that “everything takes you to be what you are now.”

“Back then in that first match in that first competition it was something unthinkable to imagine what has come later. No doubt there are a lot of people behind, a lot of work – technical teams, players and fans – that remember those games back in the stadium and how they are now is unthinkable.”

“The fact that the first match was against Arsenal and tomorrow’s final, we have a title there to battle for against them.”

Saturday will mark Arsenal’s first UWCL final since they won the competition 18 years ago – and while it’s evident that Barça have the upper hand in terms of recent experience, Putellas urged her teammates to remember that “having three Champions [League titles] doesn’t mean you’re going to win tomorrow.”