Sawt Falasteen - Russo leads Arsenal quest to slay Barcelona beast in Champions League final

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."

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST