Who should be my UCL Fantasy Football Captain for the final?

The culmination of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League season means it is also a final roll of the dice for #UCLfantasy managers, with probably the most important decision remaining being who to captain in the final. UEFA.com offer some options from both Manchester City and Chelsea assets.

MANCHESTER CITY

Riyad Mahrez (€9.1m)

Mahrez has truly come to life in the knockout stage having registered attacking returns in his last five games in the competition – against Mönchengladbach, Dortmund and Paris – and he will be one of the first names on the team sheet for #UCLfantasy managers heading into the final. The Algerian has already surpassed his previous best goalscoring season in a Manchester City shirt and, given his form, it would be a huge surprise if he didn't feature in Josep Guardiola's starting line-up for the showdown with Chelsea. As the top #UCLfantasy points scorer on both Matchdays 11 and 12 and also likely to be on penalties, Mahrez looks an essential option for your team and is firmly in the captaincy reckoning.

Kevin De Bruyne (€11.4m)

Of course, fellow Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne's captaincy credentials are no less compelling, especially when you factor in his impressive points per appearance record in the UEFA Champions League this season. Across his seven appearances in the competition, the Belgian averages over seven points per game and he will no doubt be a lynchpin to Manchester City's attacks on Matchday 13. Two of his three goals in this year's competition have come from outside the box, and with an extra point gained from this metric, his ability from long range only increases his Fantasy appeal. De Bruyne features in a fifth of all #UCLfantasy teams and a great many of those managers will likely hand him the armband.

CHELSEA

Mason Mount (€6.9m)

Whilst Jorginho has been the more consistent #UCLfantasy point scorer in Chelsea's run to the final, there is arguably a bigger upside to selecting the more attack-minded Mount if you're looking for a captain in Thomas Tuchel's midfield. The Englishman has proved to be a man for the big occasion having scored in both the quarter-final against Porto and the semi-final against Real Madrid, and seems certain to feature from the start in the final despite plenty of stiff competition in the Chelsea ranks. With Mount no doubt keen to outshine fellow England youngster Phil Foden ahead of UEFA EURO 2020, the UEFA Champions League final is the perfect stage for him to perform and #UCLfantasy managers could benefit from that.

Antonio Rüdiger (€4.9m)

Chelsea's previously steadfast defence has not kept a clean sheet in five games since reaching the final, but the London club have shown repeatedly under Thomas Tuchel that they are capable of withstanding pressure at the back, not least in shutting out City in the FA Cup semi-final. If you fancy backing them to keep a ninth clean sheet of the competition, then it's close-run thing when it comes to which Chelsea defender you should captain. The edge here goes to Rüdiger though, who has accumulated more #UCLfantasy points (37) in the knockout stage than any other Chelsea player, and indeed is second only to Mahrez in that department when it comes to players remaining in the competition.