
Champions League winners? Best moment? Star player? Pundits' picks
It's the pinnacle of club football.Paris St Germain and Inter Milan will face each other in Munich on Saturday night for the Champions League trophy.After 188 matches, 36 teams from all over Europe have been whittled down to two in an expanded tournament that has delivered shocks, drama and plenty of goals.But who wins? BBC Sport's pundits from both the Euro Leagues and Champions League Match of the Day have their say on who will be lifting the trophy as well as selecting their best players and moments.
Who will win the tournament?
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague: Paris St-Germain. They seem to have more players performing at their peak right now.France football expert Julien Laurens: It is tough to call, especially for someone who is a PSG fan. Inter have huge experience that can be the difference in big games. My heart says PSG but my head is more balanced and it is difficult!Italian football expert Mina Rzouki: I'm going with PSG – because Luis Enrique is a man who really knows how to win games like these.Champions League Match of the Day pundit & ex-Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger: It's a tough one, because I have huge respect for Inter for getting into the final and of course they deserve to be here.But I have watched more of Paris St-Germain and I have been so impressed with the way they play. I see them as the team I think is going to win it but of course anything is possible because I've been impressed by Inter too, especially against Bayern Munich (in the quarter-finals) with how well they defend and how they can suffer for such long periods then find the right moments in attack.But overall I think PSG are going to win it - because of their season in the Champions League and overall.
Player of the tournament?
Balague: Ousmane Dembele - just. It has been great to see his evolution and the jump that the Paris St-Germain forward has made this season.Laurens: There are other contenders, such as Raphinha, but I'm going for Ousmane Dembele. His transformation this season has been mind-blowing – it looked like he would be out but he has turned it around.For everything he has done, for how he transformed the perception we all had on him, he is a great guy to have in the dressing room. He used to play on PlayStation until 3am, then fall asleep and wake up late. Was late at training and people didn't like it. It was not that disicipline that you need to have when you are a professional player with his qualities to make it to a higher level.At 27 he finally got there. He got married, put a lot of discipline in his own life. And Luis Enrique has been brilliant to him by making him realise that you have to be the leader and leaders behave in a certain way, on and off the pitch. Dembele has scored eight goals, five with his right foot and three with his left, as well as making four assists in 1073 minutes of Champions League football this season.Rzouki: Difficult – Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele deserve mentions but I think I'll give it to PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donarumma.The Paris St-Germain goalkeeper has made some crucial saves during the French side's run to the final and has kept five clean sheets in this season's tournament, with only Inter's Yann Sommer (seven) and Arsenal's David Raya (six) keeping more.Hitzlsperger: Normally you would pick one from the finalists but I think Raphinha, because he was absolutely brilliant for Barcelona. If it has to be a PSG player then I like Achraf Hakimi, I've been so impressed with him. It is difficult but I would probably end up picking Raphinha - obviously there are his record assists for Barca but also because when I've watched him, he has been outstanding overall.Nicky Bandini, Champions League Match of the Day pundit: It's one of two from that Barcelona team. I know everybody wants it to be Yamal but sometimes numbers come into it, and Raphinha's numbers are stupid in this tournament.Joint top-scorer, top assists provider. And even in that ridiculous semi-final against Inter, when we're all going wild for the things Yamal does, it was Raphinha who again scores.Despite Barcelona losing to Inter Milan at the semi-final stage, Raphinha enjoyed a remarkable campaign in which the Brazilian scored 13 goals and created nine assists in 14 games.Choose your player of the tournament from our pundits' shortlist below.
Moment of the tournament?
Balague: I would say the first 45 minutes at Montjuic of the semi-final between Barcelona and Inter Milan - and what Lamine Yamal did in that half. After falling 2-0 behind, Yamal inspired Barca to comeback with an incredible first-half display. It wasn't enough ultimately but it was a display that will live long in the memory.Laurens: Probably the performance of Lamine Yamal in the first half of the first leg of the semi-final against Inter. It felt like we were watching something magic.Rzouki: Tough but I'm going to go for Francesco Acerbi's goal for Inter Milan in their semi-final against Barcelona.Hitzlsperger: As an Aston Villa fan do you mind me saying Jhon Duran scoring against Bayern Munich? Thinking about that brings back some very good memories of Villa in the Champions League and it was a special moment for any Villa fan.
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