We’re rolling out our Champions League preview piece a little earlier than usual this week as Fantasy managers prepare for tomorrow night’s first semi-final between Bayern and Barcelona. With Dortmund entertaining Real Madrid the following evening, we’re set for a couple of fascinating ties – prior to the action, we take a look at the Scout League leaders and the market trends, with our usual batch of tips thrown in:

Scout League Standings

MVPlayers climbs to the Scout League summit after a 70 point haul last time round. He loaded up on Dortmund players, with the quartet of Robert Lewandowski, Felipe Santana, Marco Reus and Mario Gotze combining for 30 points, while Cristiano Ronaldo chipped in with a 22 point armband return as MVPlayers moved on to 666 points – enough for 65th in the overall standings.

Melonfresh moves up into second spot courtesy of a 55 point Gameweek. Captain Ronaldo was joined by Reus and the likes of Didier Drogba and Mario Mandzukic, though with the former eliminated and the latter suspended, Melonfresh will need to sort out his strikers. He sits on 660 points, or 101st overall.

In third place is Russ Kitson, who tumbles after a 35 point haul. His decision to hand Cesc Fabregas the armband failed to pay off, with Ronaldo, Lewandowski and Malaga’s Isco the only three players to produce as Russ fell to 130th overall on 656 points.

Tomodbk is a non-mover in joint-third position. He registered 52 points in the second leg of the quarter-finals – Lewandowski produced a 12 point armband haul, while Ronaldo, Mandzukic and Manuel Neuer were all amongst the point as Tomodbk remained in 130th spot overall, equal with Russ on 656 points.

Yogiswarasatrio completes our top five. He also handed Ronaldo the armband and thanks to contributions from Isco, Mandzukic, Reus and Bayern defender Dante Bonfim he returned 54 points – moving his total to 654 points, or 150th overall.

Market Trends

With seven free transfers available to restructure our squads, there’s been plenty of activity ahead of tomorrow evening’s deadline. As Fantasy managers shed their quota of players from the four eliminated clubs, Real Madrid’s young centre-half Rafael Varane has proven the most popular player so far, with over 10,7000 new owners snapping up the Frenchman – at a budget 4.0, he offers superb value. Team mate Diego Lopez has acquired over 6,000 new owners; the 4.5 keeper is expected to shrug off a hip problem to continue between the sticks, while Dortmund’s Felipe Santana has earned almost 10,000 new investors due to a similar tag.

In midfield, Bayern duo David Alaba (10,0000) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (8,000) lead the way for new investment, with Madrid’s Sami Khedira and Bara’s Xavi further back with 4,000+ transfers in apiece. Up top, Bayern’s Thomas Muller is the top target – almost 4,000 have snapped him up, with Lewandowski in second spot, followed by Barcelona’s cut-price option Cristian Tello – with two starts over the entire campaign, though, and with Lionel Messi expected to return, the latter’s game time looks far from assured.

Ones to Watch

With just four teams left to choose from, the need for differentials is more crucial than ever at this point. Given that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo reside in 73% and 54% of all teams, we’re turning our attentions elsewhere and rolling out a handful of attack-minded punts for the next couple of evenings.

Mario Gomez gets the nod as Bayern welcome Barcelona to the Allianz Arena. With Mario Mandzukic suspended for tomorrow’s match, Gomez lead the line at the weekend and responded with two goals and an assist in a 6-1 win against Hannover – he’s likely to be selected ahead of Claudio Pizarro as the Germans look to build a first-leg lead before heading to the Nou Camp. Priced at 11.0 and with a 2% ownership, he may well prove a worthwhile gamble.

For Barcelona, Pedro Rodriguez is our choice. Coming in at 9.5 and with an ownership of less than 1%, he was afforded a brief sub appearance at the weekend in preparation for the trip to Germany and demonstrated his abilities in the previous round, grabbed the equaliser at home to PSG that ultimately helped his side make the last four.

Looking at the ownership amongst Dortmund’s offensive options, Jakub Blaszczykowski is a stand-out differential. The right winger comes in at just 7.0 and is owned by a mere 2% of Fantasy managers – bearing in mind Lewandowski, Gotze and Marco Reus reside in more than 20% of teams, the Pole remains overlooked and could benefit from Madrid’s left-back injury worries tomorrow.

Our final selection is a little riskier. Question marks remains over the lone forward role at Real Madrid but it’s noticeable that Jose Mourinho has opted for Gonzalo Higuain in each of his side’s last two away matches in the competition – while Karim Benzema seems to have recovered from a weekend injury, we’re sticking our neck out here and opting for the 10.5 priced, 1% owned Argentine as the La Liga outfit look to avenge their 2-1 defeat away to Dortmund in this year’s group stages.