Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) got underway on Tuesday evening.
If you’re new to UCL Fantasy game, you may not know that you can still make changes to your 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 – who is 57th in the world – takes a look at the best armband options for tonight’s fixtures and looks back on Tuesday’s action.
MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR UCL FANTASY TEAM HERE
TUESDAY SCOUT NOTES
Maccabi Haifa v Juventus
The visiting Italian side has been struggling to find consistency in all competitions, which was again reflected in their 2-0 defeat at Maccabi Haifa.
Defender Filip Kostic (€5.5m) initially had high expectations within the UCL Fantasy community but he failed to start this match and only picked up one point for his 45-minute stint.
Maccabi Haifa midfielder Omer Atzili (€5.9m) took the biggest return by bagging 16 points for his
two goals and a player of the match award.
Copenhagen v Manchester City
Man City entered the match as clear favourites, despite heavy rotation seeing 63%-owned Erling Haaland (€11.1m) on the bench. The forward did not come on at all, resulting in a blank.
Some managers included Spanish left-back Sergio Gomez (€4.1m) in their teams but his red card in the 30th minute meant he ended with minus two points.
It wasn’t all bad for Man City owners. Regular returner Joao Cancelo (€6.7m) once again justified his steep price tag. The Portuguese man collected eight points for his clean sheet and ball recoveries, with the player of the match being midfielder Rodri (€5.9m).
Paris Saint-Germain v Benfica
Similar to Matchday 3, these two competed in a tight contest. It finished 1-1, meaning a lack of defensive returns.
The star of the show was PSG forward Kylian Mbappe (€11.2m). The Frenchman put away a penalty that contributed to his nine-point return.
Benfica midfielder Joao Mario (€6m) scored his own spot kick to end on seven points.
Dinamo Zagreb v Salzburg
It was also 1-1 in Croatia. Away side Salzburg took the lead early on through Nicolas Seiwald (€6.1m) but this was cancelled out by Robert Ljubicic (€6m) scoring from outside the box.
Dinamo defender Josip Sutalo (€4.1m) was awarded player of the match which, combined with a massive 13 ball recoveries, saw the budget player finish on nine points.
AC Milan v Chelsea
Fans around the world probably expected a much tougher match for English visitors Chelsea. That was not to be, as Graham Potter’s side finished with a 2-0 win.
It was certainly helped by the early red card for Milan defender Fikayo Tomori (€5m) which brought him a score of minus four and reduced his team to ten men.
There were plenty of Fantasy returns for Chelsea assets, including for midfielder Mason Mount (€8m). He provided an assist for one of the goals, was also named player of the match and tallied up eight points.
Heavily-owned defender Reece James (€6.1m) rose in price this Matchday due to the 20-point haul of Matchday 3. Although his six points here weren’t as successful, Fantasy Premier League managers will be concerned by a knee injury that forced his removal.
Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid
The third of four 1-1 draws. 31%-owned Real Madrid midfielder Vinicius Junior (€10m) didn’t start the match and could therefore only scrape one point.
Also well-owned was star forward Karim Benzema (€10.8m). He continued to disappoint owners with another blank. The Frenchman hasn’t returned any significant points so far.
At the back, defender Antonio Rudiger (€5.5m) clinched a dramatic last-minute equaliser and picked up a huge 11 points for his efforts.
Meanwhile, Shakhtar midfielder Artem Bondarenko (€5.9m) was named best player whilst team-mate Oleksander Zubkov (€5m) opened the scoring and finished on eight points.
Celtic v Leipzig
German side Leipzig took another comfortable win at the expense of Celtic. Timo Werner (€8m) scored and assisted to pick up nine points, with midfielder Amadou Haidara (€5.5m) making 12 ball recoveries and claiming ten points.
Dortmund v Sevilla
The away side’s poor form drew up some high expectations for Dortmund but, of course, it ended 1-1.
Once again, Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham (€7.4m) stole the show and the points. His goal and player of the match award steered him to an 11-point haul and his fourth consecutive UCL Fantasy return – three of which were double-digit.
To frustrate his owners, Dortmund defender Raphael Guerreiro (€4.8m) didn’t start the match. He was another who eventually appeared but couldn’t find time to grab more than one point.
WEDNESDAY CAPTAINS
The standout choices would be Bayern midfielders Leroy Sane (€9.3m) and Sadio Mane (€10.6m). They face a poor Viktoria Plzen side who have conceded five goals in two of their three Champions League matches. However, with a very important league match-up next, Bayern could well restrict both of their minutes.
We won’t get to see the teamsheets before the UCL Fantasy deadline, either, with it being an 8pm BST kick-off.
This could give out-of-form Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Salah (€11m) a chance to shine. Liverpool play against Scottish side Rangers, who have both failed to score a single goal so far whilst also conceding at least two each time.
Although Salah has spent most of his time tracking back and playing deep to help attacking full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold (€6.5m), this could change with the latter’s injury. Salah may now be allowed to return to a more advanced role.
