UCL Fantasy Football: Defenders

With two English teams set to fight it out for European supremacy, the choices are narrowing down in terms of #UCLfantasy options but UEFA.com are on hand to examine the remaining defenders.

Both Manchester City and Chelsea head into the UEFA Champions League final off the back of clean sheets on Matchday 12 after recording 2-0 victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid respectively. The highest scoring defender over the course of the two second legs was Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker (€5.9m), who gathered eight #UCLfantasy points after recording not just a shut-out but also seven ball recoveries which added an extra two points to his score. Walker is currently the highest scoring #UCLfantasy defender heading into Matchday 13, with 59 points to his name from his ten appearances in this season's competition, and will again be popular among #UCLfantasy managers.

Another Manchester City full-back who has impressed from a #UCLfantasy perspective this season has been João Cancelo (€6.0m). Not only has the Portuguese international brought defensive stability to his side and clean sheet points to his Fantasy ownership, but he has also contributed from an attacking point of view. Often given license to roam forward, the versatile defender has registered two attacking returns in this season's competition, scoring a goal on Matchday 3 and providing an assist on Matchday 7. Waiting for team news will be crucial before deciding whether it is worth bringing in Cancelo, especially as he has not featured in two of Manchester City’s last three European fixtures. However, if Josep Guardiola does field him from the start on Matchday 13, he will be an extremely enticing option.

One defender who seems certain to start for Guardiola’s men in their first ever appearance in a UEFA Champions League final is Rúben Dias (€5.8m). The centre-back has been a stand-out figure for Manchester City since joining the club from Benfica last summer, featuring in ten of their 12 matches and accumulating 57 points, the joint-second highest #UCLfantasy score of all remaining defenders. A large portion of those points have been acquired through ball recoveries, with Dias making 50 ball recoveries to contribute 14 points to his overall score. Having accumulated a minimum of four points in each of his UEFA Champions League appearances since Matchday 1, Dias represents one of the most reliable #UCLfantasy options among defenders.

Even before Thomas Tuchel joined Chelsea as head coach back in January, the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League winners had already established themselves as one of the strongest defensive units in this season's competition. Eight clean sheets from 12 European matches mean those #UCLfantasy managers looking at Chelsea defenders to bring into their respective Matchday 13 squads have plenty of options available. One of those is club captain César Azpilicueta (€5.4m), who has returned 36 points over the course of the last six matchdays with three clean sheets and 30 ball recoveries. Whilst originally deployed as part of a central defensive back three, Azpilicueta was fielded as a right-sided wing-back in Chelsea's two semi-final matches against Real Madrid and should he play in the same position in the final, this opens up the potential of him registering an attacking return against Manchester City as he did in the recent Premier League fixture between the two sides.

Azpilicueta, however, is not the top #UCLfantasy point-scorer among Chelsea defenders, with that honour belonging to Antonio Rüdiger (€4.9m), another player who has shone since being reinstated in the Chelsea back line. With 57 Fantasy points under his belt so far, the German is level with Dias as the joint second highest-scoring defender of both finalists heading into the final. Rüdiger has several point-scoring avenues in his arsenal, gaining an assist on Matchday 11 and following it up with a clean sheet on Matchday 12. At a bargain price, he represents excellent value.

With two strong left-sided wing-backs competing for one position on Matchday 13, Tuchel has a difficult decision to make. Whilst waiting for team news is essential for all #UCLfantasy managers, it is expected that Ben Chilwell (€5.5m) will be given the nod to start in that position over Marcos Alonso (€4.7m), despite the latter scoring the winner in Chelsea's 2-1 victory away to City in the Premier League recently. Chilwell has been selected for each of Chelsea's last four UEFA Champions League fixtures, gaining 27 #UCLfantasy points over that period with a goal, two clean sheets and 19 ball recoveries. With three outlets for Chilwell to gain Fantasy points, the England international appears the ideal selection for managers looking for a more attacking defender.