UCL Fantasy Football: Goalkeepers

UEFA.com looks ahead to the second legs of the round of 16 and assesses the best goalkeeping options for #UCLfantasy managers.

Only four out of 16 teams kept clean sheets on Matchday 7, with Ederson (€6.0m), Alisson Becker (€5.9m), Thibaut Courtois (€5.9m) and Edouard Mendy (€5.2m) each returning six points. It was the first matchday of the season in which no goalkeeper scored more than six points.

Heading into the second legs, Chelsea's Mendy is the leading #UCLfantasy scorer among goalkeepers with 35 points to his name. He has kept five clean sheets in his six appearances in the UEFA Champions League this season and Chelsea's approach to the second leg against Atlético will be to staunchly defend their 1-0 lead. At €5.2m, Mendy still represents excellent value.

It is difficult to look past Ederson though, as Manchester City’s defensive statistics in 2020/21 are nothing short of superb. Josep Guardiola's teams have always been known for their attacking flair but he has instilled a steely resolve into the Premier League leaders this season and they are keeping plenty of clean sheets. An added incentive for potential investors is the fact that there has been talk of Ederson taking penalties, and while that does seem unlikely to come to pass, the prospect is a tantalising one for #UCLfantasy managers.

Elsewhere, Roman Bürki (€5.7m) could be set to return between the sticks for Dortmund on Matchday 8 as they look to build on their 3-2 first-leg win at Sevilla. The Bundesliga side conceded just once at home during the group stage. Wojciech Szczęsny (€5.5m) could also be a good option with his Juventus side playing host to Porto, as a win and a clean sheet would be enough to take the Serie A side through to the quarter-finals. At the time of writing, Juventus have kept clean sheets in five successive home games in all competitions.

Manuel Neuer (€6.0m) may have only kept two clean sheets for defending European champions Bayern in the UEFA Champions League this season but he has supplemented his #UCLfantasy points total with plenty of saves. His 31 saves – good enough for nine additional points – is the most among goalkeepers remaining in the competition.