UCL Fantasy Football: Tuesday lessons

#UCLfantasy managers must now navigate the threat of rotation as UEFA.com looks back on Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.

Liverpool and Porto are the latest to teams to book their place in the round of 16 and, given what we saw from Bayern on Tuesday evening, #UCLfantasy manager should be cautious about selecting any assets from those three teams until further on in the competition. More rotation from the likes of already-qualified Barcelona and Juventus is expected on Wednesday so it is more vital than ever to keep your eye on the team news and predicted line-ups on UEFA.com.

Atalanta centre-back Cristian Romero was featured on our Matchday 5 captain picks article and the Argentinian did not disappoint at home to Midtjylland as a goal and 16 ball recoveries led to 12 #UCLfantasy points – reward for those canny enough to stick the armband on a defender. Romero is averaging ten points per game in the UEFA Champions League this season and is proving that you don't necessarily need to be a midfielder or forward to warrant captaincy consideration.

#UCLfantasy managers are well-advised to target teams with something to play for on Matchday 6 and Group B is a prime example of this with Mönchengladbach, Shakhtar Donetsk, Internazionale and Real Madrid all still fighting for the top two spots. There are ample Fantasy assets among these teams, from Romelu Lukaku to Marcus Thuram, but Alassane Pléa is perhaps the pick of the bunch with the Mönchengladbach forward making it five goals in the UEFA Champions League this season with two in a losing cause on Tuesday evening. Pléa still features in just 2% of #UCLfantasy teams but is worthy of serious attention heading into the final matchday of the group stage.

Another player who has been largely overlooked by the masses is Salzburg forward Mergim Berisha, who has produced attacking returns in his last four UEFA Champions League matches. The German – who scored twice against Lokomotiv Moskva on Tuesday – will not break the bank at €7.2m and his side can qualify for the round of 16 next week with a win against Atlético, against whom Berisha provided two assists on Matchday 2.