Champions League Fantasy Football: Forwards

Although Erling Haaland stood alone on UEFA Champions League Matchday 8, there are a number of viable alternatives to the Manchester City striker for the quarter-final first legs, Victor Osimhen, Gonçalo Ramos and Karim Benzema among them on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

There is only one place to start when assessing the performance of strikers on Matchday 8: Erling Haaland (€11.0m). The Norwegian became only the third player to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League game, matching Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano, in his rampant display against Leipzig. Haaland's 25 Fantasy points is the highest ever on a Fantasy matchday, beating the 24 achieved by Paris Saint-Germain's Layvin Kurzawa in 2017/18 against Anderlecht and Josip Iličić of Atalanta in 2019/20 against Valencia.

The Manchester City striker almost doubled his Fantasy total for the season in that match, and has now accumulated more points than any other forward still involved for the quarter-finals.

Victor Osimhen (€7.9m) is also in a rich vein of scoring form at the moment, the Nigerian adding two more goals to his tally in Napoli's 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 8. That earned him the Player of the Match award and resulted in a 13-point Fantasy return. Fifteen goals in his last 14 Napoli games means Osimhen's ownership should continue to rise for the all-Italian quarter-final against Milan.

A high price tag meant many Fantasy managers stayed away from Gonçalo Ramos (€9.0m) in the group stage but the Benfica forward could be set for a significant increase in owners following his 13-point haul against Club Brugge on Matchday 8. The Portuguese international has three goals and an assist across the last three matchdays, also winning a penalty, so he will be one to watch as Benfica prepare to host Inter on Matchday 9.

Team-mate Rafa Silva (€8.6m) is an equally tempting proposition. The 29-year-old was also on target against Club Brugge, and has found the net four times in the last four matchdays.

Karim Benzema (€10.7m) was once again Liverpool's nemesis last time out as he followed up his 13 points on Matchday 7 with the only goal of the game in the round of 16 second leg. That took the Frenchman to 13 goals in his last eight UEFA Champions League knockout games, which includes four across two legs against quarter-final opponents Chelsea in last season's competition.

On the opposite side of the pitch, Kai Havertz (€8.9m) has three goals in his last three club appearances in all competitions, including his crucial strike against Dortmund on Matchday 8. Given that was a penalty and he is the Premier League side's designated taker, the 1%-owned German represents a potential option for Fantasy mangers seeking a differential striker ahead of Matchday 9.