With the clock ticking down on this evening’s quarter final deadline, we cast an eye over UEFA’s official Champions League game once again. As always, we give a nod to the top five in the Scout League and take a look at the transfer market before rolling out our picks for the upcoming Matchday.
Scout League Standings
Russ Kitson keeps his place at the top of the summit after racking up 73 points last time out. Partnering Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo up top, he also benefitted from double figure hauls from both Jordi Alba and Mario Gotze, while Arturo Vidal chipped in with a 20 point armband haul. Russ sits on 552 points, which is 41st overall.
In second spot is Ville Sillanpää, who produced a fantastic 85 point return in the previous Matchday. He also had the above-mentioned quintet in addition to Galatasaray’s prolific Burak Yilmaz, while Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci chipped in with a clean sheet as Ville shot up the ranking to 61st spot, with 548 points to his name thus far.
Slipping to third is Melonfresh, despite a 72 point haul. He also had Vidal captain, with Messi, Ronaldo and Alba in his ranks, while his decision to field Malaga’s Isco boosted his tally by 12 points. Melonfresh sits in 78th spot overall on 546 points.
Yogiswarasatrio takes his place in fourth spot, having racked up 75 points last time out. Captain Messi, Vidal, Ronaldo, Isco, Yilmaz and Gianluigi Buffon were his main protagonists as he moved to 104th spot, with 543 points on the board.
Finally, Tricky2006 completes the Scout League top five. While he also had Vidal, Messi and Ronaldo, his faith in Dortmund’s defence was vindicated – Felipe Santana and Marcel Schmelzer combined for 20 points, while Schalke’s Michel Bastos grabbed a goal and seven point return before his side were eliminated.
Market Trends
With just eight teams left, Fantasy managers have five free transfers to restructure their squads. Many will have plenty players to replace, after the likes of United, Milan, Arsenal, Porto and Shakhtar were all eliminated in the last 16.
Dortmund’s main assets all very much in demand ahead of a first leg trip to Malaga. Keeper Roman Weidenfeller (8,000 transfers in), full-back Schmelzer (9,000), playmaker Gotze (13,000) and lone forward Robert Lewandowski (8,000) are either first or second most popular in their respective classifications. The Spanish outfit have also received significant interest, though; keeper Wilfredo Caballero and centre-half Martin Demichelis have a combined 11,000 new owners, while Isco’s midfield exploits have persuaded over 6,000 to take the plunge.
Elsewhere, Madrid’s young centre-half Rafael Varane comes in at just 4.0 and has picked up 11,000+ new owners, while the La Liga outfit’s keeper Diego Lopez has been snapped up by over 8,000 new suitors, with Iker Casillas still injured. Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo have also proven popular as Jose Mourinho’s side prepare to face Galatasaray – the Turkish side’s star forward Burka Yilmaz has earned more than 7,000 new owners after scoring in each of his last six, while Bayern’s Toni Kroos (10,000) and Thomas Muller (4,000) have been acquired by plenty prior to their double-header with Juventus.
Ones to Watch
With the four quarter finals taking place over the next couple of evenings, the ability to “stick or twist” with our armband selections is somewhat limited. Tonight’s pair of fixtures sees PSG entertain Barcelona, while Bayern play host to Juventus, before Spanish duo Real Madrid and Malaga welcome Galatasaray and Dortmund respectively tomorrow evening.
Looking at the top five teams in the Scout League, Messi, Ronaldo and Vidal all reside in their squads – with ownerships of 77%, 51% and 40%, they are the three most popular players in the game. All things considered, then, we’re going to look elsewhere when it comes to our tips; our thinking is that by this point, it’s likely you’ll already have all three. Indeed, with so many sides sporting the same names, we’re mainly rolling out some differentials for your perusal ahead of this evening’s deadline:
While much of the pre-match hype surrounds Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s battle against his former employers, we’re opting for Ezequiel Lavezzi instead for PSG. We reckon both sides will get amongst the goals and, having notched in each of the last four in Europe, the Argentine has been the most consistent performer for Carlo Ancelotti’s side thus far – he’s owned by 3% of managers to Ibra’s 14%.
Handed a brief sub role in the weekend’s draw at Celta Vigo, David Villa is expected to return to Barcelona’s XI for the trip to Paris, with Pedro unavailable through suspension. An ownership of less than 1% highlights Villa’s differential appeal in comparison to Messi and, having scored in the 4-0 rout of Milan last time out, looks a decent shout for those willing to take a punt.
Thomas Muller gets the nod as our differential for Bayern’s home game with Juventus. The 9.0 priced forward has returned four goals and an assist in his last six Champions League appearances – yet has an ownership of less than 6%. Given a brief second-half run out in Saturday’s incredible 9-2 home win over Hamburg, he’ll be fully refreshed for this evening’s encounter.
We’re backing a Real Madrid win over Galatasaray but with so much uncertainty over the lone forward role, it seems too risky to punt for Gonzalo Higuain or Karim Benzema. With Ronaldo likely to be heavily backed for the armband tomorrow, we’re opting for Mesut Ozil as a midfield supplement. Priced at 9.0 and with an ownership under 9%, he was rested at the weekend and will be looking to replicate the form that has harvested four goals and nine assists in La Liga this season.
Our final selection is more popular in ownership. Dortmund’s Mario Gotze is the top scoring midfielder with 43 points so far and has racked up two goals and four assists in his last three appearances – despite this, he is only the sixth most-owned midfield option on 17%. If you fancy Jurgen Klopp’s side to progress against Malaga, now could be the perfect time to snap up the 8.5 priced playmaker.
