UEFA Women's Champions League: Players to watch in the final

We highlight four players looking to make the difference when Barcelona play Lyon in the UEFA Women's Champions League final on Saturday 25 May in Bilbao.

Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona)

Following a clean sweep of individual honours last season and with every chance of a repeat this year, Bonmatí has emphasised her stellar status in Barcelona's Champions League run with five goals, a competition-leading six assists, and a particularly influential performance at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the semi-finals as they won 2-0 to overturn a 1-0 deficit.

That goal that levelled the aggregate score in that tie showed all that Bonmatí brings to Barcelona in terms of skill, determination and inspiration. And even with a personal trophy cabinet no doubt in dire need of an extension, her hunger for victory shows no sign of decreasing.

Fridolina Rolfö (Barcelona)

Rolfö is a player for the big occasion; Barcelona discovered that when her goal took Wolfsburg past them in the 2020 semis, the only time since making the final for the first time in 2019 that the Blaugrana have not reached the decider. Of course, fortunes were reversed in the 2023 final when the Sweden player got the winner that gave Barcelona a 3-2 victory against Wolfsburg in a game Rolfö's former side had led by two.

In September, Rolfö underwent knee surgery that kept her out until March but she has been excellent in her return with key goals for club and country, not least the coolly-taken penalty at Chelsea that sealed Barcelona's final place. Often used as a left-back by Barcelona, of late she has occupied a role more familiar from her career in the attacking three, but her hard work and pace make Rolfö a vital presence wherever she is deployed.

Lindsey Horan (Lyon)

Horan was part of the Lyon side that beat Barcelona 3-1 in the 2022 final, starting in the midfield alongside Amandine Henry, who ran the show in the scintillating first-half performance in Turin. With Henry no longer at the club, this season it has been Horan who has been the beating heart of the OL midfield.

The United States captain does not wear the armband for Lyon but is still a leader on the pitch, keeping the midfield organised and sparking attacks. The self-confessed soccer obsessive has a footballing brain that has helped keep Lyon in their familiar position at the Champions League summit.

Wendie Renard (Lyon)

The Lyon armband of course belongs to Renard, as it has for more than a decade. Renard is the sole player to have taken part in all ten of their past finals, and will aim for both her and the club's ninth title in Bilbao, where in 2020 she got the only goal against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.

Renard had three months out injured this season but returned in March and contributed to yet another semi-final success against Paris. Holding most individual appearance records in this competition, and a regular goalscorer coming up from defence for set pieces, the towering centre-back remains ready to blunt whatever Barcelona can throw at Lyon.