On Tuesday we announced the UEFA Fantasy Champions League was live and kicking for the 2011/12 season and confirmed we would be tagging along for the ride, with full coverage throughout the tournament.

Those looking for some European action to distract from the domestic Fantasy campaign can get involved now – our Scout league code is 212-74.

For anyone unfamiliar with the UEFA game, we’ve got a comprehensive breakdown of how it all works, the key differences in the ruleset and a brief run-through of some select choices from our first glance at the player list…

Points Scoring

Nearly 2.4m Fantasy Managers are well accustomed to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game and, luckily, having been forged by the same hands, this UEFA Fantasy Champions League offering bears a great deal of similarity – but for a few small differences. They are…

• Earning a penalty for a foul in the box picks up 1 point irrespective of whether it is converted or not – as a result, there are no assists for penalties.

• Converse to that fact, a player who concedes a penalty will score -1 for their infringement.

• Every 5 recovered balls (completed clearances and tackles gaining possession) will add 1 point to a players tally.

Beyond the three mentioned points all the scoring is similar to FPL (without bonus points) but can be run through via this link if you need a refresher.

The third point is most notable of all. Those of you who will have taken part in the FIFA Fantasy World Cup 2010 will be used to similar forms of “bonus” points and will be in the dark along with Fantasy Champions League veterans- this is a new addition for the 2011/12 season, and one we will be tracking closely.

Transfers

Fantasy managers accustomed to the one transfer a week of FPL will feel they are in God’s playground when they look at the amount of chopping and changing they get to do across a season in this game. There is, of course, a level of attrition through the Champions League which means managers have to be able to transfer accordingly as sides get knocked out – but the powers that be give them plenty of room for manoeuvre.

A 13 matchday season sees Fantasy Managers granted 2 wildcards (one which must be played by the closure of the group stages) in addition to 6 free transfers to make at the end of each knockout stage. Every Matchday inbetween, most notably during the group stages, grants the usual one transfer a round.

This concurrent run of single transfer allowances in the group stages means that the “open” wildcard is most often used in this period with a variety of tactics to choose from. The most popular usage is often ahead of matchday 5 or 6 when already qualified teams take the foot off the pedal and mix things up with their starting lineup.

It should also be noted that any superfluous transfers made will only set you back 2 points – a much greater encouragement to take that risk if you really are confident in a player not in your initial squad.

Team Management

Managing your squad is where the real key differences start to kick in.

Fantasy Managers get a lot more chances to be active in the Champions League game as a squad game takes effect – man management and pushing the deadlines are an added perk for those willing to be hands-on.

Each Matchday is often spread across more than one day. What this means for Fantasy managers is that you can field all your players who take to the field on a Tuesday and, if they under-perform, you can bring one of your squad with a game to play on Wednesday off the bench and gamble that their tally will be stronger.

The same can be said for your captain’s armband – if your team leader fails to deliver, or if you just want to gamble someone in your team the next day can do even better, the armband can also be moved to a player who has yet to take to the field, with the previous captain then no longer having double points to his name.

If any of your players pick up a red card, though, not only will their points deduction sticks – they also can’t be replaced.

A prudent manager won’t be selecting bench-fillers in their squad as a result, they’ll need a full battery of 15 players they can call to arms.

Fantasy managers must also be aware of an important point regarding autosubs. At the end of each matchday, the game is set so that every player who failed to take to the field that day is replaced by someone who is playing the following day- managers who prefer the less hands-on approach must prioritise their bench order, then.

If a manager chooses to manually swap a player in off his bench, however, the auto-subs order is negated and has to be set up again. This rule is perhaps more advantageous to the casual player but is worth a mention, nonetheless.

Squad Selection

You pick a squad of 15, a captain will score double and, in the opening stages at least, you can only choose 2 players from any given side.

The major difference is in the formation stakes. Formations are pretty standard, with one exception- Fantasy managers in this game can set their stall out the Kevin Keegan way by going for goals, goals, goals with an unrealistic but exciting 2-5-3 tactic.

Unless you want to get stuck with your auto-select teams (mine even gave me Aquilani – they know me all too well) then you’ll want to start scouting around for 15 men to shine on the European front. For those unfamiliar with many of the European leagues, here’s a brief heads-up on some likely names. We will bring more in-depth guides on player selection as the tournament progresses – starting next week.

Defence
The likes of Gerard Pique (7.0), Alessandro Nesta (6.0) and Holger Badstuber (6.0) avoid the very top bracket but offer bundles of potential in three of Europe’s best teams.

Ricardo Carvalho recently made an empathetic decision to retire from international duty so will be able to concentrate his value of 6.5 on aiding the Galactico’s at the back while Dario Srna will likely be in many teams after his 2010/11 exploits.

Closer to home, the Premier League has some potentially very appealing options once the dust cloud of injury clears – Rafael at 5.5 could be points-laden if he gets his spot back while Andre Santos at 5.0 looks a giant error in judgement from those doling out prices.

Germany and France offer a whole host of high-level defenders in the same range with Neven Subotic (5.5) and Stephan Reinhartz (5.5) good representation of the Bundesliga and Mathieu Debuchy (5.5) alongside Souleymane Diawara (5.0) as some of Ligue 1’s strongest. Inter’s Yuto Nagatomo could be a good out-of-position pick- this evening, he has lined up on the wing for the Italian’s in a 3-4-3 formation and comes in at 5.0. For the first of numerous times, FC Basel get the shout-out as ideal budget options as ex-Hammer Radoslav Kovac at just 4.5 looks perfect squad filler material.

Midfield
Every manager, even those new to the European front, should be fairly well acquainted with those players priced 9.0 or higher – most have shone on enough stages to not even spare an extra breath for them.

New Chelsea signing Juan Mata creeps in at 8.5 and could prove to be a sneaky pick from the levels just below. Likewise, Theo Walcott at just 7.5 will surely be eyed up by Fantasy managers looking for value.

Dortmund were a joy to watch as they won the Bundesliga last year with young German starlet Mario Gotze (8.0) shining particularly in the second half and Shinji Kagawa (7.0) proving a bargain €350,000 signing, until fracturing his metatarsal at the Asian Cup.

It’s the mid-range midfield market that is a feast of fortune as what seems like every team from Europe offering up a talismanic midfielder for comparatively low prices. Michel Bastos (7.0) at Lyon with an array of set-pieces, Eden Hazard at 7.0 will be putting his name out there on the biggest stage (Joe Cole at 6.0 might even be a healthy gamble). Jadson (6.5) of Shaktar, Alan Dzagoev (6.0) at CSKA and Pablo Hernandez (6.5) of Valencia should be filling more than a few sides.

Yoann Gourcuff had a tepid first season as one of Les Gones of Lyon but a pick-up in performances will see his 6.5 seem a steal. Great Danish hope Christian Eriksen (6.0) will be the inspiring force behind almost all the good coming out of Ajax and jumps out as a key consideration.

The even cheaper market of 5.5 offerings has plenty of foreign imports worth mulling over – Alex Witsel of Benfica, Borja Valero at Villarreal and Mathieu Valbuena downing in Marseilles could all make a mockery of their price. Aaron Ramsey is priced equally lowly and FC Basel have another option that Fantasy Managers will bite hands off for in Xherdan Shaqiri. A young Swiss star in the making who scored against England last September and just backed a hat-trick against Bulgaria a couple of days ago – an absolute snip at 4.5, though it’s worth noting he is suspended for the opener against Oţelul Galaţi.

Attack
There’s plenty of options up front that can more than fill out a three player quota in even the most dazzling of European sides.

FC Basel continue to be the providers of cheap squad filler as the Switzerlander that never sleeps Alexander Frei comes in at a meagre 6.0 for those pinching pennies. Thomas Muller has dipped in price to 8.0 to stand out as a bit of alright in contrast to the rising price of team-mate Mario Gomez

Moussa Sow (Lille) at 7.5 and Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon), even lower at 7.0, stand-out as strong options from Ligue 1. If he can get back in action on the pitch after nearly joining Fulham on loan then a 5.5 price-tag bestowed upon Andre-Pierre Gignac will seem to be a veritable steal.

Edinson Cavani (9.5) is a Uruguayan in just as much form as his countryman on Merseyside while the error that lead Inter Milan officials to not realising new signing Diego Forlan was cup tied from European action opens stronger opportunities for their three remaining forwards.

Beyond the big two in La Liga there’s also some very good value players that will look to steal some limelight for themselves – Nilmar at just 7.0 playing for Villarreal (a million cheaper than team-mate Giuseppe Rossi) and Roberto Soldado at 7.5 immediately spring to mind.

And that’s just the “big” leagues of Europe. There’s a whole gamut of Europe wide strikers from Oscar Cardozo to Aleksander Kerzhakov and Mateja Kezman (remember him?) at BATE to the in form Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

And there is Lionel Messi at 14.0. Even at that price he’s a bargain. Anyone without him in their side is running a gauntlet armed with a blunt spoon and a copy of the Beano. Just buy him.

For any further advice check out the Champions League’s very own tipster for succinct tips on breeding a successful Fantasy outfit and look out for our “European Watchlist” these here shores this Tuesday afternoon as we look more specifically at Matchday One.