Both Barcelona and Arsenal, who will contest Saturday's Women's Champions League final, have had some of this season's most outstanding performers
This weekend, the European women's football season will come to its climax in Lisbon, as Barcelona and Arsenal meet in the 2024-25 Champions League final. It's not an unexpected final on one side, with this Barca's sixth time in the showpiece event in just seven seasons, but it's who will face the winners of the last two editions of this competition that is a slight surprise, with the Gunners reaching this stage for the first time since their lone triumph in 2007.
There have been plenty and thrills and spills on the route to this point. With Arsenal, it has featured more drama, including the biggest comeback the Women's Champions League has seen in seven years in the quarter-finals, whereas Barca's run has been incredibly commanding, with an 8-2 aggregate win over Chelsea in the semi-finals quite the statement.
However, the European season has not just been about its premier competition. Both Chelsea and Bayern Munich secured domestic trebles, Lyon continued their dominance in France and Juventus returned to the top of the tree in Italy after two tricky seasons, while there were feel-good stories at clubs like Paris FC, who upset Paris Saint-Germain in the French Cup final, and Inter, who will play in the Champions League next season for the first time.
So, which individuals have shown through it all? GOAL picks its top 20 players of the 2024-25 European women's campaign…
Getty Images20Sofia Cantore (Juventus)
After some promising runs by both Juventus and Roma in recent years, this season was a tough one in the Champions League for Serie A sides. Juve were, however, at least able to soften the blow of their group-stage exit with a return to the top of the domestic scene. Roma had won back-to-back titles coming in this season, those their first on the women's side, but the previous dominant force has bounced back to clinch a sixth crown, thanks in no small part to the rising talent of Sofia Cantore.
It's not been easy for Cantore to break into the Juve first team. She has had three loan spells in the last six years, and hasn't particularly set the world alight when kept in Turin, scoring just four goals last season. Her hard work has all paid off this term, though, with the 25-year-old producing 11 goals and six assists in just 20 league starts – many of them decisive.
That continued in Juve's last game of the season, when Cantore scored the second goal in a 4-0 thrashing of Roma in the Coppa Italia final to help seal a domestic double.
AdvertisementGetty Images19Laura Freigang (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Many have wondered just when Laura Freigang will leave Eintracht Frankfurt, the club she has represented for the last seven years. Her remarkable goal contributions for a side that isn't among the powerhouses in Germany have seen her linked with every top club on the continent in recent times, be it Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea or Bayern Munich. After hitting double figures for goals again for the sixth time in seven seasons, that's likely to continue.
But Freigang has long been happy in Frankfurt, leading her to sign a new contract with the club only last summer. She's getting closer to firing them towards something special, too. Her goals played a big role in Eintracht's unexpected title charge this season and, though they did come up short, they will hope she can fire them to an exciting European run next term, after the club secured a top-three finish.
Getty Images18Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid showed flashes of brilliance in this season, taking a 2-0 lead over Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final and beating Barcelona for the first time in an impressive 3-1 result – in Catalunya, no less. However, they did ultimately come away with not much to show for it again, finishing second in the league and losing the second leg of that European clash with the Gunners 3-0 to crash out on aggregate.
Still, Madrid have been one of the best teams on the continent this term and they have stars like Linda Caicedo to thank for that. The 20-year-old regularly rises to the big occasion, providing a superb assist to put her team ahead against Barca having also been the one to come closest to ensuring Las Blancas did progress at Arsenal's expense in the Champions League. She ends the season with seven goals and assists in eight UWCL games, having also been directly involved in 11 league goals.
Getty Images17Klara Bühl (Bayern Munich)
There was a real fear among Bayern Munich fans that they might lose Klara Buhl this summer. The 23-year-old was set to be out of contract in a few weeks' time and there were rumours linking her with top sides, including Barcelona. However, that she has put pen to paper on a new deal in Bavaria will both delight and relieve fans of the German giants, especially after another wonderful season.
No one registered more assists in the Bundesliga this year than Buhl, whose 13 was some five better than anyone else in the division, while a return of seven goals took her up to 20 direct goal contributions in 22 games. A wickedly talented winger who poses a problem for any full-back, she's been integral in Bayern's incredible domestic success this term.
