Champions League Fantasy Football: Midfielders

With the final matchday of the season looming, UEFA.com assesses the midfield options available to managers on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

• Tips for picking Fantasy defenders
• Goalkeepers in focus

Two of the three highest points scorers among #UCLfantasy midfielders represent Liverpool, and both will reach significant ownership levels for the final. At the top of the list is Mohamed Salah (€11.2m), who has 76 Fantasy points, 23 more than any other midfielder and the second-highest total overall. The Egyptian has not found the net since Matchday 7, seven of his eight goals coming in the group stage, but recorded an assist in both legs of the semi-final against Villarreal.

Whilst Salah has been short of goals in the knockout stage, team-mate Sadio Mané (€10.6m) has found the net with regularity and comes into Matchday 13 in excellent form. The Senegalese star scored in both games against Villarreal and also struck at Benfica on Matchday 9. The last four matchdays have brought Mané 23 #UCLfantasy points and, though his ownership is still only 12%, that is set to rise sharply for the final.

Fabinho (€6.2m) may not be renowned for his goals return but he was an unlikely scorer on Matchday 12. The ball recovery points system is where the 28-year-old really comes into his own, with 12 of the 27 Fantasy points he has garnered across the last five matchdays having come via that route. With 67 recoveries in total, the most among the midfielders remaining, the Brazilian looks likely to recover from a recent injury in time to take his place in Jürgen Klopp's starting line-up on 28 May.

From a Real Madrid perspective, the experienced Luka Modrić (€8.6m) has been a lynchpin in their run to the UEFA Champions League final and separates Salah and Mané in the top three highest-scoring midfielders. Modrić's total of 53 points features four assists and 37 ball recoveries, but also two Player of the Match awards. As a proven performer in big games, Modrić holds significant #UCLfantasy appeal and it would be no surprise if the 36-year-old once again stars for Carlo Ancelotti's side in the final.

As with Fabinho, Real Madrid's Casemiro (€7.5m) has proved a profitable Fantasy asset through his ball recoveries. The Brazilian has picked up four points in each of his last six UEFA Champions League appearances, with just under half of those coming from ball recoveries. To put things in perspective, Casemiro boasts 26 more recoveries than Modrić and 31 more than Toni Kroos (€8.3m), so for those #UCLfantasy managers who see this as their best way of gaining points from the Madrid midfield, owning Casemiro appears the smart move.