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#UCLfantasy matchday eleven: The Scout squad

With two even-looking semi-finals, the Scout has to ponder carefully before selecting a 15-man squad.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané are both in the Scout squad
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané are both in the Scout squad ©Getty Images

With only four teams still in contention for this season's UEFA Champions League, finding a balance in your #UCLfantasy squad is trickier than ever, with the Scout opting to invest most heavily in midfield.

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Goalkeepers

A simple conundrum this week, with Tottenham-Ajax and Barcelona-Liverpool – and in each instance, the Scout opts for the goalkeeper of the away side. Part of the consideration is budgetary, with Ajax's Andre Onana (€4.6m) and Alisson Becker (€5.8m) of Liverpool cheaper than Hugo Lloris and Marc-André ter Stegen. Besides, with clean sheets likely to be at a premium it's hard to justify investing too heavily in this area.

Defenders

In a similar vein, with clean sheets expected to be thin on the ground, the focus turns to defenders' attacking potential. Jordi Alba proves too pricey at €6.6m, however, so Barcelona are represented by the more budget-friendly Clément Lenglet (€5.0m); no such problems with Liverpool's adventurous full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold (€5.7m) and Andrew Robertson (€5.6m), whose assist potential make both a much-have. Similarly, the return of Ajax left-back Nicolás Tagliafico (€4.6m) is a welcome boost, his club-mate Matthijs de Ligt (€4.8m) completing a relatively cost-effective back line.

Midfielders

Midfield is where plenty of the matchday 11 funds are invested, with more than €20m going on Liverpool's in-form pair Mohamed Salah (€11.1m) and Sadio Mané (€9.1m), who both scored twice at the weekend. Similarly, with Harry Kane injured and Son Heung-Min suspended, much of the responsibility for attacking creativity in the Tottenham team is likely to fall on the shoulders of Christian Eriksen (€9.0m). The Dane's team-mate Lucas Moura (€7.9m) could well get his chance up front in the absence of Kane and Son, while Ajax's Donny van de Beek (€5.5m) has picked up 12 of his 35 points this season in away fixtures in the knockout rounds.

Forwards

Options are unusually sparse in attack, with several high-profile absentees or injury doubts meaning Lionel Messi (€11.8m) is an even more obvious pick than usual – not only does he have ten goals in this season's competition and 24 in 32 matches against English clubs, but he has accrued 26 #UCLfantasy points in his last two appearances at the Camp Nou. Tottenham's Fernando Llorente (€7.2m) should get the chance to repeat his quarter-final heroics, while David Neres (€7.0m) of Ajax has collected 19 of his campaign total of 33 points in the knockout rounds already.

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