UCL Fantasy Football: Top ball winners

Goals, assists and clean sheets aren’t the only ways to accrue significant Fantasy returns, as ball recovery points have proven worth their weight in gold.

Following its addition to #UCLfantasy last season, ball recoveries have proven an incredibly popular source of points for managers, with a number of players being selected in squads purely for their ability to pick up ball recovery points, rather than attacking or defensive returns.

That has once again been the case throughout this year's competition with one player having stood out from the rest. Cristian Romero (€5.1m) of Atalanta did not feature in every match but still racked up 72 ball recoveries over the course of the group stage, earning him 22 additional Fantasy points. Romero comfortably leads the way for ball recoveries not just for defenders, but across the board. Atalanta are set for a showdown with Spanish giants Real Madrid in the round of 16 and any #UCLfantasy manager looking for a cheap addition to their squad who can accumulate those ball recovery points need look no further than Romero.

Another two defenders complete the top three in the list of players to have accumulated the most ball recovery points over the course of the group stage. Second place is Dortmund's Mats Hummels (€5.2m) with a total of 54 ball recoveries bringing him an extra 17 Fantasy points. Just behind him is another Atalanta defender, Berat Djimsiti (€5.2m), with the Albanian international having accumulated an additional 16 #UCLfantasy points thanks to his 50 ball recoveries. Whilst it would be a brave move to double up on Atalanta defenders in the knockout stage, a combined outlay of €10.3m presents Fantasy managers with a high-risk, high-reward scenario.

Managers looking for ball-winning midfielders in the differential bracket should strongly consider Danilo (€5.6m), who started on all six matchdays for Paris Saint-Germain in the group stage. Whilst registered as a midfielder in #UCLfantasy, the Portuguese international has also featured in central defence for the French club, which has likely helped increase his ball recovery output. With 47 completed ball recoveries already, Danilo ranked first for midfielders in terms of ball recoveries with 14 extra points acquired. With Paris set for a mouth-watering round of 16 encounter with Barcelona and Danilo currently owned by just 3% of #UCLfantasy managers, he could be the perfect player to fill any gap in your midfield going into the knockout stage.

Most ball recoveries (players still remaining in the competition)