In the second year since the Women’s Champions League reformat, with plenty of thrills and spills along the way, the field has been cut down to two for Saturday’s final in Eindhoven — and neither Barcelona nor Wolfsburg are strangers to the biggest stage in Europe.
Finishing top of their group, three-time finalists Barcelona emphatically saw off tournament debutantes Roma in the second leg of their quarterfinal after a narrow win in front of a record crowd in Rome. A successful, albeit uncomfortable semifinal against Chelsea followed with Barca’s first leg advantage seeing them through after a draw in Catalonia.
Meanwhile, in their eleventh successive season in European competition, German powerhouse, VfL Wolfsburg have reached their sixth final but much like their opposition on Saturday, have often tasted defeat at the hands of reigning champions Lyon. Also finishing top of their group, Wolfsburg did just enough to see off PSG in the quarterfinals before taking Arsenal all the way to extra time in London, squeezing into the final with an aggregated score of 5-4 over the Gunners.