Champions League Fantasy Football: Matchday 10 options
Thursday, April 7, 2022
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With Villarreal and Manchester City delivering in defence and Liverpool and Real Madrid providing attacking points, UEFA.com considers the choices for the quarter-final second legs.
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With three free transfers available ahead of Matchday 10, UEFA.com assesses some of the best options in all positions heading into the quarter-final second legs for managers on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.
GOALKEEPERS
Of the eight goalkeepers in action on Matchday 9, two kept clean sheets. Ederson (€6.1m) recorded his third consecutive UEFA Champions League shut-out for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's side triumphed 1-0 against Atlético, whilst Villarreal's Gerónimo Rulli (€5.1m) kept out Bayern to help his side to victory by the same scorline. The latter will likely struggle to match his seven-point score on Matchday 10 given Bayern's attacking potency on their own ground, most recently scoring seven against Salzburg in the round of 16. Ederson, however, has to be considered an attractive option for #UCLfantasy managers with Atlético having not registered a shot against the Premier League champions in Manchester.
Those looking for other options would be wise to consider Liverpool's Alisson (€6.4m), who has conceded just one goal in his last three matches at Anfield in all competitions ahead of Benfica's visit on Matchday 10. Thibaut Courtois (€6.7m) is also worth a mention, with the Belgian international currently the highest scoring goalkeeper from a #UCLfantasy perspective with 48 points to justify that premium price tag.
DEFENDERS
Manchester City's clean sheet helped keep João Cancelo (€6.6m) top of the list when it comes to #UCLfantasy point-scoring defenders this season, a seven-point return taking his total score to 56 points. With opponents Atlético needing to go forward more in a bid to overturn their one-goal deficit in the second leg, Cancelo's attacking prowess which could bear fruit as he may be offered more space to operate in Madrid.
On the opposite side, Reinildo Mandava (€5.8m) managed a respectable four points on Matchday 9 despite failing to keep a clean sheet, largely thanks to his ball recovery skills. Mandava has now accumulated 66 recoveries in this season's UEFA Champions League, more than any other player and worth an extra 20 points to his overall Fantasy score. If Atlético are to reach the quarter-finals, they will need to defend strongly and this could lead to a healthy return of points for Mandava.
With Chelsea trailing Real Madrid 3-1 after their first leg, the holders will be up against it in Spain on Matchday 10. Head coach Thomas Tuchel normally favours a tactical system which gives wing-backs the space to push forward, so Reece James (€5.6m), Marcos Alonso (€5.6m) and César Azpilicueta (€5.9m) could all play central roles, and #UCLfantasy managers pondering which asset to go for will have the advantage of the knowledge of Chelsea's starting line-up ahead of the deadline.
MIDFIELDERS
Bayern have work to do to reach the semi-finals as they trail Villarreal 1-0. Winger Leroy Sané (€9.7m) started the first leg on the bench but could well be restored to the starting line-up in Munich. Over a quarter of #UCLfantasy managers own Sané and will be banking on his incredible home form, which has brought him four double-figure scores and 52 Fantasy points across Bayern's four home fixtures in this season's UEFA Champions League.
However, as Bayern are yet to keep a clean sheet in the knockout stage, Villarreal will be hopeful of finding the net once again and have scored three goals in each of their last two away European games, including an eye-catching 3-0 win at Juventus in the round of 16 second leg. Arnaut Danjuma (€7.4m) scored the only goal of the first leg against Bayern, his sixth in this season's competition making it successive eight-point scores. Despite his 62 points this season, only 7% of #UCLfantasy managers currently own Danjuma.
With similarly low ownership, Chelsea's Kai Havertz (€9.3m) offers differential value and could be key if the Blues are to mount a comeback at Real Madrid. The German has scored in two of his last three UEFA Champions League appearances, but features in just 3% of teams.
A far more popular midfield asset is Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (€11.2m), who despite failing to gain an attacking return on Matchday 9, will remain highly courted by #UCLfantasy managers given his eight goals scored across the competition so far.
FORWARDS
On Matchday 9 Karim Benzema (€10.5m) became only the fourth player to reach the 80-goal mark in the UEFA Champions League, joining Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski (€12.3m) in an exclusive club. Whilst the latter drew a blank at Villarreal, Benzema scored his second successive UEFA Champions League hat-trick to score 18 Fantasy points. With six goals and 35 Fantasy points across the last two matchdays, the French forward will unsurprisingly attract huge attention.
No one will be writing off Lewandowski, who scored a hat-trick of his own on Matchday 8 against Salzburg and who remains the highest scorer on Fantasy this season with 86 points. As Bayern look to turn around their one-goal deficit, the Polish star could shine once again.
Cheaper options are available in the form of Liverpool's Luis Díaz (€8.1m) and Benfica's Darwin Núñez (€7.9m), who both found the net in Lisbon on Matchday 9 and could well line up again for the return leg.