Champions League Fantasy Football: Scout squad for Matchday 12

First-leg advantages are a theme in the Scout's squad for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second legs on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation, with 14 of the 15 players representing sides who triumphed in last week's fixtures.

Forwards Robert Lewandowski, Lautaro Martínez and Ollie Watkins lead three-strong contingents from Barcelona, Inter and Aston Villa respectively, while Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are selected from Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Goalkeepers

Four teams kept a clean sheet in last week's first legs, all of them on Wednesday. The reverse fixtures of those ties will be played on Tuesday and the standout pick is Josep Martínez (€5.0m), whose Inter side have conceded only once in their first nine fixtures, including the 2-0 first-leg shutout at Feyenoord. Martínez came into the side due to injury to Yann Sommer, has retained his place for the last two games despite the Swiss international's return and has four clean sheets in his six Inter appearances in all competitions.

All eight teams in action on Wednesday conceded in the first legs, and among those eight goalkeepers David Raya (€5.6m) looks the most likely to improve on that in this week's returns. The Spaniard, whose Arsenal side were 7-1 winners at PSV Eindhoven in the first leg and has five clean sheets in eight Champions League appearances this season – including in all four home matches.

Defenders

Three of the five defenders selected for Matchday 12 come from English clubs. Gabriel (€5.5m) is the Arsenal selection given their imposing defensive record at home this season, while Virgil van Dijk (€6.0m) has scored seven or more points in seven of his eight appearances, including in Liverpool's 1-0 win at Paris Saint-Germain last week. Lucas Digne (€4.6m) has scored 16 points in his three home games for Aston Villa, who welcome Club Brugge to Birmingham having won 3-1 in Belgium, where Digne picked up four points.

Inter's Denzel Dumfries (€5.5m) scored seven points in the 2-0 win at Feyenoord last week – the seventh appearance running in which the wing-back had returned six or more. Jules Koundé (€5.6m) managed eight as Barcelona won 1-0 at Benfica in their first leg, and has 20 from his four home games in the league phase ahead of the reverse fixture.

Midfielders

Raphinha (€7.7m) and Mohamed Salah (€10.1m) retain their places, the former having scored the only goal of Barcelona's win at Benfica last week, those nine points helping him to 93 for the season, while the Liverpool midfielder has goal contributions in his last eight Premier League matches – nine goals and four assists.

Like Salah, Ousmane Dembélé (€8.5m) drew a blank in the first leg but has 20 goals in 17 appearances in 2025 and will be central to Paris Saint-Germain's hopes of turning round their tie at Anfield. Michael Olise (€6.8m) scored six points as Bayern München dismantled Bayer Leverkusen last week, making it 16 in three knockout appearances and 55 for the season; Marco Asensio (€6.7m) is more of a gamble as a selection doubt for Aston Villa but may prove a risk worth taking after five goals in his last four games in all competitions – most recently in last week's first leg at Club Brugge.

Forwards

All three strikers selected on Matchday 12 enjoy both home advantage and a first-leg lead. Ollie Watkins (€7.5m) got the only goal in Aston Villa's weekend win and will now look to add to his single Champions League strike this season – although he does also have four assists. Lautaro Martínez (€9.4m) has 35 Fantasy points across his last three Inter appearances, adding nine to his total in the first leg at Feyenoord.

Robert Lewandowski (€9.6m) has not scored in his last two Champions League games but has nine goals in this season's competition and has found the net 11 times in 14 games in total in 2025. The Pole also has 19 goals in 23 round of 16 appearances overall.