Last night’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy Game saw three sides guarantee their place in the knock-out stages, with plenty of surprise results once again. Here’s the lowdown on what proved to be an evening of frustration for both Manchester clubs…
Sergio Aguero
While European Fantasy managers will not have been happy to see Sergio Aguero benched for over eighty minutes in Man City’s defeat at Napoli, his FPL backers will be delighted. The Argentine came on for Edin Dzeko with just nine minutes remaining, while Mario Balotelli played the full ninety and scored once against for City. Ahead of this weekend’s trip to Liverpool, Balotelli is the only one of the strike trio to start both City’s last two matches- Aguero certainly looks likely to start at Anfield now, given his comparative freshness.
Edinson Cavani
The Uruguayan broke City’s hearts with a double as Napoli climbed above Roberto Mancini’s men with one match remaining. Cavani came into the game in poor form, having scored twice in his previous ten club appearances in all competitions but the Champions League seems to bring out the best in him- he’s now scored 4 goals in five games. A victory in Villarreal would clinch the runners-up spot for the Italian side, regardless of whether City manage to beat Bayern at the Etihad.
Dimitar Berbatov
Despite Sir Alex Ferguson claiming that Wayne Rooney would be fit for the game with Benfica, the striker missed out with a hip problem. Berbatov started his second Champions League game in a row and celebrated with a goal, as United came back from an early Phil Jones own goal to eventually play out a draw. Fergie’s deployment of Ashley Young was also intriguing- with Nani and Antonio Valencia given spots on the wings, Young tucked in behind Berbatov, a position he played on many occasions for Aston Villa last season. With Rooney remaining a doubt for the weekend game with Newcastle, Javier Hernandez was given just ten minutes from the bench, with the United boss clearly looking to protect the on-form Mexican ahead of the crucial Old Trafford showdown against Alan Pardew’s side.
Franck Ribery
It’s taken four weeks of waiting and a couple of dalliances with our Champions League Watchlist but finally Franck Ribery produced the goods last night. The French winger grabbed Bayern’s first and last goals in a 3-1 over a dismal Villarreal to ensure his side finished top of Group A last night with a game still to spare. A 12 point haul proved just reward for his patient European Fantasy backers.
Karim Benzema
Real Madrid score goals. It’s just what they do. You can rest Cristiano Ronaldo and give the likes of Mesut Ozil and Sergio Ramos shortened appearances but you can’t stop Jose Mourinho’s men from steamrolling opponents. Four goals in the first twenty minutes saw Madrid tear Dinamo Zagreb apart from the off, with the La Liga leaders eventually settling for a 6-2 victory. Karim Benzema was the top scoring Fantasy performer, grabbing a couple and producing an assist for a 13 point haul, while Jose Callejon also stood out. Priced at 5.4, the midfielder scored twice in his first start of the campaign. Given the hosts previously immaculate defensive record, the biggest surprise was Zagreb scoring twice, though Mourinho did, admittedly, leave a good few first-teamers out for this one, including our Watchlist option Pepe. Having qualified as group winners, Mourinho may use this rest and rotation policy again for the trip to Amsterdam next time round- one to keep an eye on, then.
Alexander & Fabian Frei
FC Basel have continued to defy expectations and provide the perfect variety of budget strikers and midfielders for European Fantasy managers. Fabian and Alexander Frei both scored, as did striker Marco Streller, to fire the Swiss side to a 3-2 victory at Otelul. Having started at prices of 4.0, 6.0 and 5.0 respectively, and with 8 goals and 2 assists between them, they’ve proved a profitable cut-price trio and will be sorely missed from Fantasy squads if Basel fail to get the victory at home to United next time round to move on to the next stage.
Seydou Doumbia
We hoped that CSKA would be able to handle themselves capably in the absence of their suspended main striker- so much so that we nonchalantly threw out the idea of Alan Dzagoev in our Watchlist. The Russian side’s abject performance in their home tie with Lille, however, means they now face an uphill struggle to make the next stage of the Champions League. The visitors dominated the game as young Belgian star Eden Hazard tore the CSKA backline to shreds. A 2-0 away victory courtesy of Moussa Sow and an own goal saw Rudi Garcia’s side return one of only three clean sheets over the course of last night’s action. Lille’s destiny is entirely in their own hands now, with a victory at home to Trabzonspor next time round enough to guarantee passage to the round of 16.
Jan Vertongen
The Ajax centre-back and captain picked up the plaudits for a dominant Man of the Match performance away at Lyon that puts the Dutch side on the brink of qualification for the knockout stages. Neither Yohann Gourcuff or Christian Eriksen did anything to justify their inclusion in our Watchlist, as a defensive battle saw the game finish goalless. Ajax now have a three point and 7 goal advantage over Lyon ahead of their Matchday Six home tie with Real Madrid – qualification isn’t sealed but should be expected, nonetheless.
Didier Zokora
Lille’s win in the early kick-off meant Inter Milan had already qualified by the time their game kicked off. Ricky Alvarez scored for the visitors and Halil (brother of Real Madrid midfielder Hamit) Altintop for Trabzonspor to round out a score draw. We were most interest to see ex-Spurs midfielder pick up 14 recovered balls and fall just shy of 3 bonus points (that’s an assists worth of points) for his efforts about the pitch.
