How do you pick between Lamine Yamal and Bukayo Saka? Do you opt for Robert Lewandowski up front or Lautaro Martinez? Is there a place for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia?
The Champions League semi-finals get under way this week and the four teams involved — Arsenal play Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona face Inter — boast an incredible array of talent.
We gave our writers the task of studying the teams involved and coming up with their fantasy XIs from this season’s final four in Europe’s premier club competition.
First name on the team sheet? Saliba
Jack Lang: The first name on my team sheet was William Saliba, the best centre-back left in the competition by some distance. Vitinha, Paris Saint-Germain’s tempo-setter, was an obvious choice in midfield, as was the grossly underrated Nicolo Barella of Inter. Federico Dimarco would have been a shoo-in if I had gone for wing-backs, but this system favours PSG’s full-backs.
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The remaining picks might have been different had you asked me on another day. Pedri is a luminous player but it was a coin flip between him and Declan Rice, who has been brilliant. Gabriel is injured, so the elegant Alessandro Bastoni completes the defence and David Raya edges out Yann Sommer in goal.
In attack, I offer heartfelt apologies to Kvaratskhelia, Saka and Martinez, a shadow squadron for the ages. But Yamal is too good, Raphinha is too in the groove, and Ousmane Dembele’s mercurial, two-footed brilliance is just too far up my alley.
Four forwards feels like cheating… but still no space for Yamal
Nick Miller: There were some pretty tough choices from front to back, not least in goal, where Sommer just edges out Raya. You’d struggle to find a more elegant central defensive pairing than Saliba and Bastoni, while Myles Lewis-Skelly gets the nod over more senior options: even at 18, he’s so obviously the real thing that he wouldn’t look out of place. Rice and Vitinha complement each other nicely in midfield: it’s harsh to leave out a whole bunch of Barcelona midfielders, which I’ve done for the sake of variety, but it’s up front where option paralysis becomes a real problem.
Choosing four forwards feels like cheating, but the attacking riches are such that I’m still leaving out Saka, Martinez, Yamal and Desire Doue. Still, you tell me you wouldn’t stump up your life savings to watch Raphinha and Kvaratskhelia cutting in from either flank, feeding Lewandowski with Ousmane Dembele buzzing around all of them. Would this team win every game? Maybe. Would it be fantastically entertaining? Absolutely.
A midfield to match anyone’s…
Mark Carey: This was an incredibly difficult XI to pick. Leaving out so many star names feels wrong, but there was simply a glut of options.
Raya has been solid in goal, with just six goals conceded across the whole European campaign and a better ‘goals prevented’ rate than Inter’s Sommer. The same predicament holds in defence, with Inter and Arsenal so impressive out of possession this season — so with Saliba and Bastoni at the back, I have hedged my bets. The flying full-backs of Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes pick themselves.
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The technical quality and physicality of Vitinha, Rice and Pedri would be a match for anyone, and I will allow them to work out their exact dynamic as a trio. The forward runs of Raphinha, Yamal and Dembele ahead of them would be frightening for any defence. It does feel harsh leaving out Saka, particularly after two stellar performances against Real Madrid, but the prodigious talent of Yamal just edges it.
My goodness, there are some quality players remaining among the final four teams. These semi-final clashes are going to be exciting.
A system to allow Dembele and Yamal to roam
Dermot Corrigan: Given how evenly matched this year’s four semi-finalists appear to be, this is not a simple team to pick. Going with a 3-4-2-1 shape helps to pack in as many in-form attackers as possible.
Saliba at centre-back is one of the few obvious choices for the XI, while Vitinha and Pedri are the outstanding playmakers of the tournament. In most other positions, it just comes down to personal choice, hunch or intuition of what might happen from here on.
William Saliba, an automatic pick for our writers (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Sommer is the most reliable and experienced of the remaining keepers, while both Pau Cubarsi and Bastoni bring bulk and build-up quality. Saka and Raphinha have the physicality and the work rate to help in attack and defence, and will be asked to stay wide. That should create space for Dembele and Yamal to roam around and cause havoc, with Martinez then the focal point up top.
PSG pair picked after Liverpool performance
Matt Slater: I was tempted to pick myself in goal, as I can’t see the opposition having much of the ball, but I’ve gone with the big Italian between the sticks just in case we have to win via penalties.
PSG’s full-backs are my full-backs now, merci beaucoup, and it was their performances over Liverpool that gave them the edge over Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber and Lewis-Skelly. Has Mohamed Salah escaped Mendes’ pocket yet? Bastoni and Saliba are my centre-backs and probably the easiest choices here.
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In midfield, there are no wrong answers, but I am going for Pedri, Vitinha and Rice for their performances in this tournament and because I think they would actually work together.
Up front, it is Raphinha on the right and Kvaratskhelia on the left, mainly because watching them play is really enjoyable, and Mikel Merino through the middle. Only kidding, I will go for Martinez, with Dembele, Yamal and Saka ready to come on after an hour. And remember, no bad faces.
An Inter spine with some Barca flair
Michael Bailey: I’ve just written out that XI and can’t believe there is no Kvaratskhelia or Dembele, especially with the latter having 10 goal involvements in the competition. But that has not actually outperformed his expected goals and assists — unlike Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, who have been attacking sensations for a Barcelona side who have scored an average of 3.1 goals per Champions League game this season. Arsenal are next with 2.5, so it is not even close.
In contrast, Inter do not score many yet Martinez has been influential. They also dominate my spine, primarily due to their eight clean sheets and my soft spot for the midfield drive of Hakan Calhanoglu. I also make it a deserved clean sweep for Bastoni at centre-back.
Rice has come into his own in these latter stages, while PSG’s full-backs have been so good to watch as Luis Enrique’s young team have grown before our eyes. They are impossible to leave out (in a 4-3-3 anyway).
(Top photos: Getty Images)
