From Linköping to Lisbon: retracing Blackstenius’ steps to Arsenal hero status | OneFootball

Of the many enduring images of Arsenal’s celebrations after their Women’s Champions League triumph against Barcelona, one in particular emphasised the magnitude and rarity of the contribution made by their goalscorer, Stina Blackstenius. The Arsenal striker was photographed holding the trophy aloft alongside Alex Scott, scorer of the only goal in their previous European final 18 years earlier. As the pair posed together, it hit home that Blackstenius had scored one of the two biggest goals in the club’s history.

The 29-year-old Sweden striker’s name will now be immortalised in Arsenal Women folklore and, despite predominantly playing as a substitute in the past two seasons, she has developed a knack for producing in the biggest moments, scoring the winning goal in both the 2023 and 2024 League Cup finals.

It might seem at odds with her Women’s Super League return of five league goals this season – she has never hit double figures in the league for Arsenal in a campaign – but to those who have followed her career her success in Lisbon was no surprise. Martin Sjögren was in charge at the Swedish top-flight club Linköping when he signed a 16-year-old Blackstenius from Sweden’s lower leagues, where she had averaged more than a goal per game, before their 2013 season

“She was a very big talent, but very, very shy,” he says. “Not on the pitch, but talking to the media especially, she didn’t like that. But that was off the pitch; on the pitch, she played with the same characteristics as she has now, she had a lot of speed, a lot of physicality and was scoring a lot of goals.

“During those years she had scored so many goals more or less everyone knew about Stina. Linköping were the closest elite team from where she played, so it was quite natural for her to join.

“She was very physical for her age, she had the physique. That’s always been important for Stina, to be able to run, to tackle, to work hard. You can still see that in her, it’s a big part of her game.”

Just over two and a half years after moving to Linköping, Blackstenius made her senior Sweden debut and she has scored 35 times in 115 appearances. Sjögren, who is now coaching Hammarby, says: “She’s always been the type of player that can create chances, score chances, more or less on her own, because of her speed and because she can finish with her left and right foot.

“What I saw in her years ago, I still see that today. This is what she still does, but at a much higher level. It [Saturday’s winner over Barcelona] was a nice moment, especially for Stina. She’s a hard worker so she deserves the best.”

After breaking through with Linköping, Blackstenius went to the French league with Montpellier before a return to Linköping and then a 2020 switch to Hacken, who were then known as Kopparbergs/Göteborg, where she won the title in her first campaign and scored in the 2021 Swedish cup final. She became a transfer target for Arsenal and the head coach who brought her to north London in 2022, Jonas Eidevall, says: “I don’t think it is a coincidence that she has scored in all three finals. She has a really good intelligence in how to find a good position in-front of the goal.”

Eidevall, who stepped down from his role at Arsenal last October and is now coaching the San Diego Wave, who are second in the NWSL, says: “Stina had proved so many times with the Swedish national team that she is a player for the big games, scoring deciding goals in knockout matches. She has improved her technical level dramatically since she arrived at Arsenal, which means she’s a much more well-rounded forward who can finish in more ways and operate both behind and in front of the back line.”

After the final whistle in Lisbon, Blackstenius insisted on praising the team performance rather than wanting to talk about herself and told TNT Sports: “I just can’t believe it, all of it. I just can’t believe we won the Champions League and we get to celebrate.”

Even in that, proudest of moments, she came across a little shy, but in front of goal, she is fearless.

Header image: [Photograph: Armando França/AP]