Chelsea Women meet Barcelona Women at the Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg on Sunday, with both teams in the hunt for their first Women's Champions League title.

This year's final is Chelsea's debut appearance in this stage of the competition, but Barcelona have reached the final once before when they lost 4-1 to Lyon in 2019.

Match preview

Chelsea have become the second English women's side to reach the Champions League final after Arsenal won this tournament in 2007, and the Blues' route to this season's final has been full of goals.

In the round-of-32 Emma Hayes's side claimed an emphatic 8-0 aggregate win over Benfica which was followed up by a 3-0 overall victory against last season's quarter-finalists Atletico Madrid.

After reaching the semi-final stage of the Champions League in 2018 and 2019, Chelsea were determined to ensure this season they go at least one better and make it to the final, which they achieved by scoring five goals in each of the quarter-final and semi-final ties.

A 5-1 aggregate win over Wolfsburg in the quarter-final was especially welcomed by Hayes after she had witnessed her team being knocked out of the Champions League by the German side for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018.

In the first-leg tie of the semi-final against Bayern Munich the London side left themselves with it all to do at Kingsmeadow after losing 2-1 in Germany, but the return fixture a week later saw Chelsea run out 4-1 winners on the day to book their place in the final.

The Blues have achieved domestic success since the Champions League semi-final as last week a 5-0 victory over Reading meant that Hayes's side retained their Women's Super League title and claimed their fourth league winners' medals in WSL history.

Barcelona also made it to the quarter-finals after two big victories, the first being an 8-2 win against PSV Eindhoven, followed up by a statement 9-0 aggregate win against Fortuna Hjorring in the round-of-16.

Closer affairs have been played out since then for Barcelona in the Champions League, with an important 3-0 lead being claimed in the first-leg quarter-final tie before Lluis Cortes's side lost 2-1 in the second leg against Manchester City.

Those results were enough for the Spanish outfit to set up a semi-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain, who had recently knocked out five-time reigning Champions League winners Lyon in the quarter-final.

In France the first-leg fixture ended in a 1-1 draw which Barcelona capitalised on on home turf, when a first-half brace from Lieke Martens was enough to seal a 2-1 victory at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in the second leg in front of a restricted home crowd.

Barca are looking to become the first Spanish side to win the Women's Champions League and they will be boosted by the fact that they have already retained their domestic league title for the first time since 2015.

Cortes's side currently sit 16 points clear of second-placed Levante, who only have five games left in the Primera Division while Barca have three games in hand on Levante, with the Spanish giants aiming to go through the whole league campaign with a 100% win record.

Sunday's final will be the first meeting between the two sides in the Women's Champions League and personal achievements for some players will be up for grabs as Chelsea's Fran Kirby and Barcelona duo Jenni Hermoso and Martens are all in contention to win the Golden Boot for this season's competition.

Team News

Chelsea will be without long-term absentee Maren Mjelde, and youngster Niamh Charles will compete with fellow right-back Jess Carter for a starting place in the Blues backline.

Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger has been in vital form for Hayes's side this season, including two penalty saves against Atletico in the round-of-16 to help her team to this stage of the tournament.

In front of Berger will be the defensive partnership of Millie Bright and Magdalena Eriksson, who was missed by her side during the Swede's absence in the first-leg defeat to Bayern Munich.

At the other end of the pitch the English side will be calling on the threat of their attacking players Pernille Harder, Kirby and Sam Kerr, who have 14 goals between them in this season's Champions League.

Barcelona defender Andrea Pereira will miss the final on Sunday through suspension after picking up two yellow cards over the course of the semi-final ties. Melanie Serrano could come into the side to partner Mapi Leon in the middle of the Barca defence.

Attacker Andrea Falcon has been a long-term absentee for Barcelona and is also set to miss the final on Sunday, but the Spanish side will be relying on Hermoso and Martens to continue their good goalscoring form.

Twenty-seven-year-old Alexia Putellas is a key player for Barca and she has had her most prolific season of her career this year as she is the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe's top leagues, scoring 16 goals from the left side of the field.

Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:
Berger; Charles, Bright, Eriksson, Andersson; Leupolz, Ingle, Ji; Harder; Kirby, Kerr

Barcelona Women possible starting lineup:
Panos; Torrejon, Serrano, Leon, Ouahabi; Losada, Hamraoui, Putellas; Hansen, Hermoso, Martens

We say: Chelsea Women 2-1 Barcelona Women

The Women's Champions League has been a long-term goal for Hayes and Cortes as they have both seen their sides fail in this competition before now, but this season has gifted the sides with their best opportunity to claim the most prestigious club title in Europe.

Being without stalwart defender Andrea Pereira is a big blow for Barcelona and the attacking threat Chelsea pose should be enough for the English side to get on the scoresheet, and with a full strength Chelsea defence Berger will be confident of minimising Barcelona's attack.

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