Champions League Fantasy Football: Scout notes 29 January

From expected line-ups to advice on substitutions and captain changes, the scout notes offer assistance to managers on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

Fantasy decisions

• The Matchday 8 deadline is Wednesday January 29th at 21:00 CET – the kick-off time for all 18 league phase fixtures.

• With Matchday 8 taking place over the course of one evening, Fantasy managers will not be able to substitute players into their respective line-ups for the first time this season.

• Fantasy bosses will likewise only get one captaincy selection with no opportunity to switch after the deadline, so choose wisely!

Fixtures

21:00 CET
PSV vs Liverpool
Sporting CP vs Bologna
Inter vs Monaco
Sturm Graz vs Leipzig
Manchester City vs Club Brugge
Bayern München vs Slovan Bratislava
GNK Dinamo vs Milan
Juventus vs Benfica
Barcelona vs Atalanta
Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Brest vs Real Madrid
LOSC Lille vs Feyenoord
Aston Villa vs Celtic
Girona vs Arsenal
Salzburg vs Atlético de Madrid
Stuttgart vs Paris Saint-Germain
Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Praha
Young Boys vs Crvena Zvezda

Key Fantasy players

Cody Gakpo (€7.5m) – Liverpool
Has 16 goals in all competitions already this season, including Champions League strikes against Leverkusen and Real Madrid.

Erling Haaland (€11.0m) – Man City
A goal and assist on Saturday against Chelsea for the Norwegian, who has scored twice in each of City's last two home European fixtures.

Harry Kane (€10.7m) – Bayern
Boasts 23 goals in 25 appearances this season in all competitions and faces a Slovan side who have conceded 24 league phase goals, more than any other team.

Minjae Kim (€5.2m) – Bayern
On the scoresheet against Freiburg at the weekend and has 35 Fantasy points since the start of Matchday 4.

Raphinha (€7.7m) – Barcelona
Comfortably the highest-scoring Fantasy player in all positions with eight goals, three assists, three Player of the Match awards for a total of 76 points.

Mateo Retegui (€5.5m) – Atalanta
Three goals in his last two Champions League starts for Serie A's leading scorer this season.

Kylian Mbappé (€10.9m) – Real Madrid
After a hat-trick at the weekend, the forward could play a key role at Brest in his native France in the absence of the suspended Vinícius Júnior.

Jonathan David (€7.2m) – LOSC Lille
The Canadian international has managed at least one attacking return in five of Lille's last six league phase matches.

Serhou Guirassy (€8.0m) – Dortmund
Has at least one attacking return in all seven of Dortmund's league phase fixtures, scoring seven goals and providing two assists overall.

Gabriel (€5.5m) – Arsenal
Has recorded seven points in all bar one of his six Champions League matches this season.

Julián Alvarez (€8.3m) – Atlético
Five goals, two Player of the Match awards and 34 Fantasy points in his last three league phase appearances.

Santiago Giménez (€6.5m) – Feyenoord
Seven goals scored across his last six games in all competitions for the in-form Mexican striker.

Willian Pacho (€4.8m) – Paris
Has made 65 ball recoveries across the first seven matchdays, more than any other Fantasy player.

Ousmane Dembélé (€8.4m) – Paris
The forward has found the net in his last six appearances in all competitions, his eight goals including the one that began a Matchday 7 comeback against Manchester City.

Alejandro Grimaldo (€5.8m) – Leverkusen
The only defender to have scored more 50 Fantasy points with two goals, an assist, 26 ball recoveries and four clean sheets.

Patrik Schick (€6.3m) – Leverkusen
Scored at the weekend against Leipzig and has eight goals from his last six appearances in all competitions.