Champions League Fantasy Football: The Scout Squad for Matchday 8

For managers on #UCLfantasy, presented by PlayStation, who have elected to play their Wildcard on Matchday 8, the Scout has put together an all-star squad as the league phase of the UEFA Champions League concludes.

With only 11 players needed and line-ups for all 36 teams available in advance of the Fantasy deadline, the Scout's squad contains four low-priced options, allowing for the selection of Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland up front, plus Nuno Mendes, Vinícius Júnior and Virgil van Dijk, among other top-priced players.

• Possible line-ups and team news

Goalkeepers

There are a number of Matchday 8 fixtures where a clean sheet looks a distinct possibility. League phase leaders Arsenal are at home to bottom side Kairat Almaty – although with the Gunners guaranteed to finish first or second, David Raya is a rotation risk. Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are at home to Copenhagen and Bodø/Glimt respectively, while Liverpool welcome Qarabağ to Anfield.

The Scout's selection is Lucas Chevalier (€4.4m), whose Paris Saint-Germain side are at home to Newcastle, the Magpies having failed to score in three of their last four away matches in all competitions. The low-priced back-up is Arnau Tenas (€3.8m) of Villarreal.

Defenders

Paris are also represented among the five defenders, Nuno Mendes (€6.3m) the top scorer in his position on 53 points, 13 of them via ball recoveries. Virgil van Dijk (€6.2m) is the third highest-scoring defender on 49 points; like Mendes, the Liverpool centre-back has two Player of the Match awards, plus three clean sheets to the Paris full-back's two.

The Scout has also selected Manchester City's Rico Lewis (€4.2m), who may prove to be a useful differential in 1% of teams with a clean sheet and an assist from just 218 minutes of playing time. The defence is rounded out by two budget enablers, whose sides are in opposition on Matchday 8 – Anton Gaaei (€3.8m) and Bruno Onyemaechi (€3.8m) of Olympiacos ahead of their fixture in Amsterdam.

Midfielders

The big-money pick in midfield is Vinícius Júnior (€9.5m), the top scorer on Matchday 7 with 20 points – almost doubling his season total to 41 – thanks to a goal, three assists and the Player of the Match award as Real Madrid overwhelmed Monaco. Dominik Szoboszlai (€7.0m) returned 13 points in his last appearance, his goal in Liverpool's win at Marseille making it seven attacking returns in this season's competition before he also found the net in the Premier League on Saturday.

Szoboszlai's 58 Fantasy points overall puts him second for midfielders, two points ahead of Vitinha (€7.3m), who will look to add to his four goals in the league phase as Paris welcome Newcastle. Another high scorer last time out with 16 points, Fermín López (€6.7m) will hope to inspire Barcelona at home to Copenhagen, the five midfielders completed by Hugo Vetlesen (€4.0m) of Club Brugge.

Forwards

If 2024/25 is any guide, Matchday 8 could be full of goals – the 18 fixtures last season featured an average of 3.6 per game, 64 in total. With 11 goals overall already this season, Kylian Mbappé (€11.0m) has four more than any other player as Real Madrid visit Benfica aiming to cement their place in the top eight of the table.

Harry Kane (€10.8m) is second to Mbappé in this season's scoring charts with seven goals; he ended a run of three goalless Champions League games with a double on Matchday 7 and already has 34 in 30 Bayern München appearances in 2025/26 ahead of a trip to PSV Eindhoven. Erling Haaland (€10.7m) has just one goal in his last nine games, but has nevertheless hit six in this season's league phase and should lead Manchester City's attack against Galatasaray as he looks to fire his side straight into the round of 16 and continue his incredible scoring Champions League record.