Who should be my Champions League Fantasy Football captain for Matchday 1?

With double points up for grabs, plus the option to swap the armband if required, UEFA.com picks out four potential captains for the first round of group games on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

TUESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER

Karim Benzema (€11.0m) vs Celtic (A)

Benzema seems to only get better with age and his numbers across the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League were the best of his career as the Frenchman played a starring role in Real Madrid lifting their 14th European Cup. Benzema scored 15 goals in last season's competition and his overall #UCLfantasy score of 102 points was the highest of any player. Having started the season in ominous form, scoring three times already in the Liga and also finding the net in Real Madrid's UEFA Super Cup win against Eintracht Frankfurt, it would be no surprise if Benzema was among the goals once again on Matchday 1 away to Scottish champions Celtic.

Erling Haaland (€11.0m) vs Sevilla (A)

Having joined Premier League champions Manchester City from Dortmund over the summer, Haaland has settled into his new surroundings superbly, with his penchant for goals as strong as ever. Five league appearances have already yielded nine goals, including back-to-back hat-tricks, and he currently averages a goal every 43 minutes for Pep Guardiola's side in the Premier League. If history is to go by, Haaland will have no problem transferring this form into the UEFA Champions League, beginning on Matchday 1 with Manchester City facing Sevilla in Spain. The Norwegian's first group stage appearance for Salzburg back in 2019 brought him a hat-trick, whilst he also hit 15 goals in 13 UEFA Champions League appearances for Dortmund.

WEDNESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER

Robert Lewandowski (€11.0m) vs Plzeň (H)

Following his summer move from Bayern, Lewandowski make his European debut for Barcelona on Matchday 1 at home to Plzeň, and going by his stellar goal record in the competition – joint-third on the all-time list with Benzema at present – #UCLfantasy managers will have no hesitation in handing him the armband. The Pole racked up 13 goals and three assists in last season’s competition, accumulating 91 Fantasy points overall, and heads into Matchday 1 in excellent form for his new club. Two Liga doubles already suggest he has settled in nicely, and spearheading this new-look Barcelona side could yield healthy captaincy returns.

Sadio Mané (€10.5m) vs Inter (A)

Mané is another player looking to make an immediate impact following a summer move, with the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League winner having swapped one six-time European champion for another after joining Bayern from Liverpool. The Senegalese star has already made quite the impact, scoring five times in all competitions, and despite being fielded largely as a striker by Julian Nagelsmann, Mané is listed as a midfielder in #UCLfantasy. It's difficult to ignore the start to the campaign Bayern have made from an attacking perspective, having found the net an eye-watering 26 times so far, and they will be looking to carry that form to Milan on Matchday 1.