Erling Haaland, Vinicius Jr and GOAL's 2022-23 Champions League Team of the Season

The Cameroonian shot-stopper began the season as Inter's second-choice in Serie A behind Samir Handanovic, but quickly made the starting berth his own with a succession of excellent performances in the Champions League.

Onana has played every minute of his team's European run and no matter what happens in Istanbul, he will end the tournament with more clean sheets (he currently has eight) than any other goalkeeper. Hardly surprising, then, that the 27-year-old is attracting interest from England's richest clubs...

A player who didn't make his Serie A debut until the age of 24 has just captained Napoli to a first Scudetto since 1990. Di Lorenzo also illuminated the Champions League as the Partenopei made history by reaching the quarter-finals.

The 29-year-old right-back boasts more chances created than any other defender in the competition (20), resulting in two assists, while he also scored a couple of goals himself. Now expected to be rightly rewarded with a bumper pay rise for a truly incredible campaign.

The ideal centre-back for Pep Guardiola. Dias is ridiculously comfortable in possession, as underlined by the fact that, as it stands, only his Manchester City team-mate Rodri has completed more passes in this season's Champions League.

The Portuguese is also a brilliant defender, though - his tally of 16 successful tackles is just two off the tournament's overall leader, Marco Verratti.

What. A. Story. Acerbi is a cancer survivor who also overcame an alcohol problem. Now, at the age of 35, he's a Champions League finalist finally being recognised as a great defender.

Few Inter fans wanted Acerbi at San Siro when the season began, but they love him now, with Simone Inzaghi's former Lazio charge having played a pivotal part in their European exploits. Indeed, no outfield player has been involved in more clean sheets (seven), while Acerbi ranks second for clearances made (41) and seventh for aerial duels won (26).

A truly inspirational story.

When Inter were eliminated by AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals of 2003, Federico Dimarco was in the stands at San Siro. However, when the two city rivals met again at the same stage this season, he was on the pitch, ensuring a far happier outcome for his beloved Nerazzurri.

Truth be told, that was wholly unsurprising, given the wing-back has been a revelation in this season's tournament, with five assists - more than the likes of Rafael Leao and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - and 15 chances created. Not bad at all for a guy who only became an Inter regular last season!

Sandro Tonali has long been flattered by the Andrea Pirlo comparisons, but always insisted that the comparison didn't really extend beyond a similar hairstyle and their shared bond with Brescia. And he's right, he's a different kind of midfielder but he's proving himself a very good one.

Tonali took some time to settle at San Siro, but he was one of the main reasons why a struggling AC Milan side reached the semi-finals of this season's Champions League. The 22-year-old won the ball with impressive regularity (57 times, to be precise), while also using it effectively, resulting in him ranking third for chances created, with 22.

The best central midfielder in the world right now, as he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt in this season's Champions League. Rodri has made more successful passes than anyone else (849) and also tops the rankings for possession won (96).

When it comes to both reclaiming and keeping possession, the Spain international is presently in a class of his own.

What more could any manager ask for in a winger? Seriously! Bernardo Silva isn't just brilliant from a technical perspective, he's also as intelligent as he is industrious.

The Portuguese, who has contributed three goals and one assist to the Manchester City cause, basically set the tone for one of the most complete team performances the tournament has ever seen by very nearly pressing Real Madrid's defenders to death in their semi-final, second-leg meeting at the Etihad.

Is Kevin De Bruyne finally going to get his hands on the Champions League? You certainly wouldn't bet against him. Going into Saturday's final against Inter, De Bruyne has already racked up a tournament-high six assists, while he also sits second on the list of most successful crosses (21).

His goal against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in the last four is also destined to be remembered as one of the sweetest strikes of the season.

It is a measure of Vinicius Junior's strength of character that he managed to deliver one memorable Champions League moment after another this season despite being repeatedly subjected to vile racial abuse in Spain. In the last 16, the Brazilian produced one of the best individual performances Anfield has arguably ever seen.

Madrid may have bowed out in the semi-finals, but Vinicius, who contributed seven goals and five assists, tormented one defender after another and remains on course to end the tournament having won more duels (86) and completed more dribbles (47) than any other player.

And who else to lead the attack but Erling Haaland, the No.9 that is breaking goalscoring records on an almost weekly basis? At just 22 years of age, the Norwegian has become only the third player, after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to score at least 10 goals in multiple Champions League campaigns.

He has 12 in total this season and, after surprisingly blanking in both legs of Manchester City's semi-final win over Real Madrid, do not be surprised if Haaland ends his goal 'drought' in Istanbul on Saturday night...

Pep Guardiola is rightly being lauded as a tactical genius once again but, let's face it, Manchester City's presence in the Champions League final is no surprise. By complete contrast, nobody saw Inter getting out of a group that contained Barcelona and Bayern Munich, let alone making it all the way to Istanbul.

So much of the credit has to go to Simone Inzaghi, who was on the verge of being sacked after an atrocious run of results in Serie A during the spring - and yet somehow managed to keep it together and put an unfancied and inconsistent side one win away from immortality.