Uefa Champions League Final: Where the game could be won.

Playmakers - Thierry Henry V Ronaldinho

One of these is expected to win this game for his team, with the Frenchman perhaps under the greater pressure to make a decisive difference.

Henry has had another tremendous season, even if his performances have been increasingly overshadowed of late by the speculation regarding his future. His tireless work and willingness to look for the ball in deep positions is of central importance to making the team tick.

He has pace and terrific awareness of what is going on around him, but it is his coolness around the box and almost flawless finishing that might prove to be his most important assets this evening.

Ronaldinho's complete freedom to contribute as he likes to the Barcelona team will, meanwhile, make him a difficult man to subdue.

He is likely to start the game on the left, but may switch to a more central role if Emmanuel Eboue's runs forward are causing problems.

Wherever he operates, however, he has the ability to cause enormous problems for defences.

His ball-control is superb and he is an inspired passer who can score from a long way out or create goals for others.

Midfielders - Gilberto Silva V Edmilson

Both teams depend on Brazilians to protect their central defences, and each will have to be at his best to contain opponents that use pace and movement to extraordinary effect when sweeping forward.

Over the course of the season, Edmilson has looked to have a slight edge on his fellow countryman. The 29-year-old is composed under pressure and possesses a marvellous ability to dispossess opponents while at full stretch. He is quick, but his sharp reading of the game sometimes helps to make his contribution look effortless.

His arrival at Barcelona a couple of years ago from Lyon was followed by a long spell out with a cruciate ligament injury, but he has become central to the balance of the side this season, not least in the semi-finals when he did much to contain the threat posed by Kaka.

His rival, meanwhile, started the campaign rather poorly, prompting some to suggest that he suffered as a result of Patrick Vieira's departure for Italy.

His resurgence, though, has coincided with that of the team generally, and he has played a key part in most of the side's better Champions League performances.