Champions League Fantasy: The Scout squad
Monday, February 17, 2020
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As the knockout stage kicks off this week, The Scout has put together a squad drawing on players from nine teams.
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With the round of 16 kicking off, and unlimited transfers on offer, picking your #UCLfantasy team is a delicate affair. The Scout has weighed up both the likelihood of individuals scoring large points totals and also the chances of their teams making it through to the quarter-finals when picking a 15-man squad.
Goalkeepers
The two goalkeepers for the squad face away games in the round of 16 first legs, although there is every chance both could keep clean sheets. Alisson Becker (€5.7m) has helped Liverpool to ten clean sheets in their last 11 Premier League matches, conceding only once in that time, and faces an Atlético Madrid side who have failed to score in four of their last seven matches in all competitions; Wojciech Szczęsny (€5.5m) has two shut-outs in his last three Serie A outings for Juventus, and also kept two clean sheets in the group stage. The Italian champions return to European action at Lyon.
Defenders
Attacking full-backs are in high demand, with Liverpool pair of Andy Robertson (€7.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (€6.8m) impossible to leave out. Not only have both been key parts of the team that has kept those ten clean sheets in 11 league matches, both offer huge potential for attacking returns with 16 Premier League assists between them already in 2019/20. There's also a double-up on Atalanta defenders, with Robin Gosens (€4.3m) and José Luis Palomino (€4.4m) selected; Gosens has been pushed forward into a more attacking role in recent weeks while centre-back Palomino is a decent bet for a clean sheet with a home game against Valencia. Bayern's Benjamin Pavard (€5.5m), who provided three clean sheets and two assists in the group stage, completes a back line full of attacking intent.
Midfielders
Bayern and Atalanta are also represented in midfielder; the German club's Serge Gnabry (€8.2m) is in thanks to an enticing game against a Chelsea that has managed only five clean sheets in their 19 home games in all competitions this season, while Josip Iličić (€6.2m) has 14 Serie A goals already this season, including ten in his last ten appearances. Iličić's Atalanta are at home to Valencia, whose captain Dani Parejo (€5.0m) is a strong budget selection thanks to a goal and two assists in the group stage, contributing to his 24 points; Lyon's Lucas Tousart (€4.5m) fits the same criteria, with 14 of his 29 points to date coming via balls recovered and the French side sure to have plenty of defending to do at Juventus. Son Heung-Min (€9.7m) has scored in each of Tottenham's last five games, six goals in all, and faces a Leipzig side that conceded eight goals in the group stage.
Forwards
Up front, it is once again impossible to ignore the credentials of two players who have been in the squad for much of the campaign. Bayern's Robert Lewandowski (€10.7m) is 2019/20's top scorer with ten goals, and already has 23 to his name in this season's Bundesliga; new Dortmund signing Erling Braut Haaland (€4.7m) is only two goals behind the Polish forward on the UEFA Champions League front and has hit the ground running in Germany with a barely believable nine goals in his first six BVB appearances. Cristiano Ronaldo (€11.5m) might have had a quiet group stage by his own lofty standards with only two goals, but he has found the net in every game the Italian club have played in 2020, hitting 12 goals in eight appearances. He has scored 23 times in the round of 16 over the years.