The UEFA Champions League (UCL) got underway on Tuesday evening, along with the official Fantasy game.
If you’re new to the game, you may not know that you can still make changes to your UCL Fantasy team ahead of Wednesday’s ties.
Not only can you substitute in any players on your bench that haven’t yet played (at the expense of a player who may have blanked on Tuesday) but you can also change your captain. Again, your nominated new skipper must have a Wednesday fixture.
Here, FPLReactions takes a look at the best armband options for tonight’s fixtures and looks back on Tuesday’s action.
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Best Wednesday captains
The standout captaincy pick has to be Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona. The new-look attack seems to be effective for the Spanish side and leading the forward-line is this man. The 40%-owned £11m striker faces a home match against Plzen this evening. With five goals in his last three matches, the Polish hitman seems to be finding his feet at his new club.
For those that do not own Lewandowski, a representative of the Spurs or Ajax attacks could also be a good alternative. Both face teams who, although in good form, have questionable competition within their leagues and for that reason could both concede heavily.
How many managers want to change their captain is another question: well-backed options like Erling Haaland (£11.0m) and Kylian Mbappe (£11.0m) hit double-digit hauls last night, so there will be few willing to risk losing those returns by rolling the dice on an even bigger score from Lewandowski or another Wednesday-night option.
TUESDAY SCOUT NOTES
Dinamo Zagreb v Chelsea
The early kick-off saw a shock defeat for heavy favourites Chelsea. Although dominant in possession, the Blues failed to convert that into anything offensively significant. This meant that key Chelsea assets Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) and Reece James (£6.0m) didn’t register a return.
£6m midfielder Arijan Ademi managed to claim player of the match, taking his tally to six points.
Dortmund v Copenhagen
Dortmund eased to the three points here in their 3-0 victory. Many UCL Fantasy managers went into this tie with plenty of assets and were rewarded. £4.5m defender Raphael Guerreiro hit the biggest return with his 13 points. The defender managed a goal and a clean sheet.
Other top performers were £7.0m midfielder Jude Bellingham (11 points) and the popular £7.5m midfielder Marco Reus (nine points), both of whom managed to score.
Benfica v Maccabi Haifa
The Portuguese side were firm favourites for this match and that became apparent as the match progressed. Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos (£9.0m) was highlighted as a top differential within the UCL Fantasy community but came away with zero points. The Portuguese attacker received a yellow card and came off after 45 minutes, to the disappointment of his backers.
The standout performance came from Benfica defender Alejandro Grimaldo (£5.0m). The attacking defender hit top form during the game, collecting a whopping 20 points. Those points consisted of his goal scored, assist created, clean sheet and player of the match award.
Salzburg v Milan
In a tightly contested meeting, the Austrian side finished the match in a well-earned 1-1 draw against Milan. The standout points returner was midfielder Alexis Saelemaekers (£6.5m), who hit 10 via his goal and player of the match award.
In addition, heavily owned Milan forward Rafael Leao (£8.5m) rewarded his owners with a five-point return for his assist.
Celtic v Real Madrid
Real Madrid started off slow but grew into the match. The Spanish side won the tie 3-0 but it wasn’t all good news: the heavily owned and widely captained Karim Benzema (£11.0m) failed to make it past the 30th minute after his injury.
Scorers and midfielders in the game Eden Hazard (£8.0m), Luka Modric (£7.0m) and Vinicius Junior (£10.0m) all hit eight points or more. Defender Dani Carvajal (£5.5m) also impressed, his nine-point tally coming from an assist and a clean sheet.
Leipzig v Shakhtar Donetsk
Home side Leipzig were favourites coming into the match against the Ukrainian outfit. That, however, was quickly forgotten after Shakhtar Donetsk finished the game with a 4-1 win. Taking the bulk of the UCL Fantasy points was £5m midfielder Marian Shved. His 17 points came from two goals and the player of the match award.
17%-owned midfielder Christoper Nkunku (£9.0m) had high expectations from his owners. The attacking Frenchman appeared lively in the final third but could not convert that into points.
Sevilla v Man City
English side Man City dismantled the Spanish strugglers 4-0. The away team came into Matchday 1 as a team to target for the first round and they made good on that. The big performances came from defenders Joao Cancelo (£6.5m) and Ruben Dias (£6.0m), who both hit 15 and 14 points for their two assists and goal respectively. Both also came away with the clean sheet to top up their points total.
51% owned Erling Haaland (£11.0m) found the net twice, resulting in 10 points.
Paris v Juventus
The home side stormed the first half with their two goals in the first 22 minutes. Juventus responded with a goal of their own, but it wasn’t enough to take any points away from the match.
Top performer, £11m forward Kylian Mbappe, collected an impressive 13 points. This tally included two goals scored and a player of the match award.
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