Women's Champions League: Players to watch in the Arsenal vs Barcelona final

The UEFA Women's Champions League final takes place in Lisbon on Saturday. We look at four players who could make a difference in the biggest fixture in the European club calendar.

Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona)

Obviously, as the player who has dominated individual awards over the last couple of years, it is hard to look past Aitana as a potential difference-maker in the final. She has already scored and been named Player of the Match in two deciders, against Chelsea in 2021 and Lyon in 2024, and she also played a big role in Barcelona's second-half comeback to beat Wolfsburg in 2023.

Only last month, Aitana was crucial as Barcelona dismantled Chelsea in the semi-finals on their way to earning a showpiece berth against another London club – and one the midfielder scored against when her side won 4-0 at Arsenal in the 2021/22 group stage. More than just a goal threat, however, Aitana also leads the way for assists in this season's competition, tied with Barcelona team-mate Patri Guijarro.

Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona)

Aitana and Alexia Putellas have helped themselves to the big awards in recent times, but Norway attacker Graham Hansen might just as easily have taken those honours. The winger has been part of all three Barcelona triumphs in the Champions League, and this season she has got to link up again with her old Wolfsburg foil Ewa Pajor.

Graham Hansen combines skill, speed, grace and determination, and those qualities make her stand out even in a team as star-studded as Barcelona. On top of that, she has previous form in helping to dismantle a London club in a final, as a quick viewing of the Gothenburg 2021 highlights would attest.

Emily Fox (Arsenal)

So how do Arsenal stop the fearsome Barcelona threat down the flanks that did for even the otherwise pretty much unbeatable Chelsea? Arsenal might have the answer in American right-back Fox, who arrived in London in January 2024 and has enjoyed a tremendous first Champions League season.

Fox brought up her 50th Arsenal appearance in the sensational win at Lyon that took the Gunners to Lisbon, and she is considered among the world's best right-backs, being no stranger to surging forward in addition to her defensive tasks. Can the 2024 Olympic gold medallist join the list of Americans who have won the highest UEFA club honour, including Ali Krieger, Gina Lewandowski, Alex Morgan, Lindsey Heaps and Catarina Macario?

Emily Fox in action for ArsenalArsenal FC via Getty Images

Kim Little (Arsenal)

In August 2006, a 16-year-old made her UEFA women's club debut for Hibernian in a 4-1 loss to Espanyol. Nearly 19 years on, that same player is set to lead her side out against another club from Barcelona, as Arsenal contest their first final since that same 2006/07 season.

Previously a prolific attacker – and among the top ten all-time goalscorers in this competition – but now a midfield general, Little moved from Edinburgh to London in 2008 and has been at Arsenal for most of that time since. She was the inspiration behind the semi-final victory at Lyon that earned her a first final appearance in her 13th UEFA club competition season, and her combination with former Barça player Mariona Caldentey in the heart of Arsenal's midfield this season has been so vital to their return to Europe's top table.

Kim Little leads Arsenal out at LyonArsenal FC via Getty Images