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Arsenal step on to the pitch at the Estádio José Alvalade on Saturday to face the most almighty challenge in their first Champions League final since 2007. Against a Barcelona side who dominate the ball like no other, opportunities will be limited and for a forward, there are few greater tests, as every fleeting chance matters.
Alessia Russo, tasked with leading the line in a stacked Arsenal attack, has the opportunity to make a statement as well as earn a place in history.
When Russo moved to Arsenal from Manchester United in 2023 expectations were high. The England forward had shone at the 2022 Euros, scoring four goals, including an audacious backheel in the semi-final defeat of Sweden, the video of which went viral. In 2023, more goals followed in England’s World Cup quarter- and semi-final wins over Colombia and Australia, respectively.
By the time she joined Arsenal on a free transfer, with United having reportedly spurned two world-record bids for the forward from the Gunners in January, her status as one of the WSL’s most capable strikers was clear. It did not take long for the 26-year-old to settle in north London, but this season she has soared. Two goals against Real Madrid in the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final, with the Gunners needing to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg, were emblematic of her step up.
The Arsenal manager, Renée Slegers, described her as “determined and feisty” in the wake of that victory. The Dutch coach has reignited Russo’s fire after the exit of Jonas Eidevall, the forward having scored once in eight games under the Swede. “She wants to contribute so much to the team, and believes in what she can contribute, that’s on a very high level at the moment,” said Slegers. “She’s so consistent, so whatever the circumstance or the result she is always going to be there and deliver.”
Russo has scored 12 goals in the league this season, matching her tally of last season, earning her the golden boot, an award shared with Khadija Shaw, and was named the Football Writers’ Association women’s footballer of the year, joint player of the year with Lauren James at the Women’s Football Awards and the WSL attacker of the year at the Festival of Women’s Football Awards.
Slegers has praised Russo for her goals and her awards but said her value also lies in “all the things in the background; the way she treats people, she’s very humble, respectful, and she always wants to learn”. She added: “When players are like that, you are more likely to get the best out of yourself and that is what she has been doing consistently.”
Russo shares second place with her teammate Mariona Caldentey for the most goals scored in the Champions League this season with seven, behind Barcelona’s Clàudia Pina, with 10.
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Russo’s rise this season lies less in the number of goals scored, though, and more in her overall game, her movement and workrate off the ball, holdup play and defensive efforts. That growth has, in part, come through a greater understanding of what it takes to perform as a No 9. “I probably didn’t understand to begin with how much work and how much there is to learn through the position,” she said in March. “The older you get the more clever you get with the position. It’s all tiny moments and fine margins.”
The simpler answer as to why she is playing so well this season is that she is happy. “I’m just enjoying my football,” she says. “I’ve said it before and I always play my best football when I’m happy and I’m enjoying the games.”
Had Shaw been fit for the second half of the season, the golden boot might have been in doubt but it would be hard to not agree that watching Russo this season has been a joy. Making her mark in the Champions League final, win or lose, would be a just reward at the end of a stunning season. Missing out on the trophy in Lisbon, however, would still not detract from a campaign that has positioned Russo well for this summer’s Euros.
