Only Barca's Claudia Pina has scored more European goals this term than the England striker, who has enjoyed a serious season of progress
When Barcelona star Aitana Bonmati sat down with ahead of Saturday's Women's Champions League final against Arsenal, she admitted "it was a surprise" to see the Gunners progress to this stage. It's a fair observation. After all, Arsenal only very lightly challenged Chelsea for the Women's Super League title this season, were beaten by an under-performing Manchester City in the semi-finals of the League Cup and suffered a shock loss to Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Defeat to Barcelona this weekend would condemn them to a first trophy-less season in three years – and in that campaign, they at least fought tooth and nail with Chelsea for the league.
The Gunners have done things the hard way in the Champions League, too. In the quarter-finals, they put in an awful performance in the first leg in Spain, helping to give Real Madrid a 2-0 advantage that they managed to overturn at the Emirates Stadium. Then in the semi-finals, they made things even more difficult for themselves, losing 2-1 at home to Lyon. It was a result that meant they had to win in France against the eight-time European champions.
But the important thing is that, despite those obstacles, Arsenal have come through, with Bonmati keen to stress that while she wasn't expecting to face the Gunners this weekend, their run to the final has been "well deserved".
There are lots of reasons why they've earned their place in Saturday's game. One is the incredible turnaround Renee Slegers has overseen, after taking interim charge in October and getting the permanent job in January. Another is the impact of Mariona Caldentey, who joined Arsenal from Barcelona just last summer. But right up there, too, is the season that Alessia Russo has had.
Getty Images SportDelivering in big moments
Russo's two biggest moments of this campaign have come in the Champions League, too. When Real Madrid travelled to the Emirates to protect their lead, it was the England striker who both started Arsenal's comeback and completed the turnaround, bagging the first and third goals in a 3-0 win. It was the first time in seven years that a team had overturned a two-goal first leg deficit in a women's knockout tie.
In the semi-finals, there was concern that Russo wouldn't be able to play her part. Injury on international duty meant she was a real doubt for the Lyon tie, with there genuine worry early on that she wouldn't be able to feature. But her hard work, and that of the Gunners' medical staff, would pay dividends.
She couldn't be at her most effective in the home leg, but the minutes she got under her belt in that loss clearly did a lot for her sharpness a week later, as she came up with another big goal and another fantastic performance to help Arsenal to a truly stunning 4-1 win.
"Scoring four goals against Lyon in the second leg is not easy at all," Bonmati said this week. "I congratulate them for that because I think it was a big surprise, but a well deserved one."
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Those have been two of the highest points of an excellent all-round season for Russo. There has never been much doubt about her ability as a footballer, with her work rate, hold-up play and intelligent pressing all superb, and very important to how the Gunners play. But she has not always shown that she has the goal-scoring instincts to be a very prolific striker. Indeed, in her three seasons before this one as a regular starter, for Manchester United and then Arsenal, she'd never hit the 20-goal mark in all competitions.
This term, Russo has done that for the first time, netting a Golden Boot-winning 12 in the WSL and eight in the Champions League. The latter is a total only bettered by Barcelona's Claudia Pina, who has 10. How has she done it?
GettyEarly indications
If you look at her underlying numbers, this sort of season has been coming. Last year, the averages of all Russo's key metrics as a No.9 were up in the second half of Arsenal's campaign compared to the first – those being touches in the opposition's box, total shots, shots on target, expected goals (xG) and goals. She was outperforming her xG from January onwards as well, having underperformed with regards to it in the first half the season.
It's a trend that has continued in 2024-25. Per 90 minutes, she had more touches in the opposition's box and more shots on target in the WSL this season than in any of her previous three, while out-performing her xG by more than two goals.
Getty ImagesHard work pays off
But the real reasons behind those numbers are the hard work Russo has done behind the scenes. The 26-year-old is the ultimate professional, someone who commits to extra sessions to fine tune her game and throws herself into the analysis of it all. She's done a lot of work with Kelly Smith, the legendary Arsenal forward who is now part of the first-team staff, to improve her goal-scoring, and she's also been focusing on that a lot with England, another team reaping the rewards of her progress.
On top of it all is a strong mentality that all strikers need, because even the very best go through some tough times in front of goal. "She's so consistent and stable as a person that she doesn't get swayed by if she scores or not," Slegers explained recently. Others around Russo will describe her as resilient.
"As strikers you always have moments and spells," the Gunners' star told earlier this season. "It’s about riding the wave and when things aren’t good, it’s stripping it back, focusing on training and that’s what I have done. I’m my own biggest critic and I know at times I have definitely not scored as much as I want to."