UCL Fantasy: Tuesday review + Wednesday captaincy tips

Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) got underway on Tuesday evening but managers playing the official Fantasy game can still make changes to their teams ahead of tonight’s ties.

Here, our in-house expert Louis (aka FPLReactions) – who was 76th in the world going into yesterday’s fixtures – takes a look at the best captaincy options for Wednesday and reviews yesterday’s matches.

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LAST NIGHT’S ACTION

Sevilla v Copenhagen

Both sides came into this game with some of the most inconsistent form amongst all participants in the Champions League. However, it was Sevilla who finished the match with a comfortable 3-0 victory. That win-to-nil unsurprisingly meant that Copenhagen assets struggled to pick up much of note.

Sevilla midfielder Isco (6.5m) collected an impressive 11 points, which consisted of a goal and a player of the match award. Defender Gonzalo Montiel (4.3m) bettered his teammate with his 14-point return. His points came from his nine ball recoveries, a goal and a clean sheet.

Salzburg v Chelsea

The English visitors were always the favourites to win here and that proved to be the case when Chelsea departed Austria with a 2-1 away win. Blues’ budget midfielder Mateo Kovacic (6m) hit nine points for his goal but was then substituted off due to injury, while teammate and forward Kai Havertz (8.9m) collected seven points for his strike.

Another budget midfielder who performed well was Jorginho (5.5m). The Italian claimed the player of the match award to take his total to seven points this week. 

Dinamo Zagreb v Milan

We saw another favourite come out on top here. Milan were looking to bounce back after their two successive defeats against Chelsea, and bounce back they did: the Italians dismantled Dinamo Zagreb 4-0. Sandro Tonali (6.5m)  picked up the player of the match award, created an assist and earned a penalty to take 11 points away from the game.

Milan defender Matteo Gabbia (4.4m) hit double digits with his 14-point return, managing to score and keep a clean sheet whilst topping his total up with six ball recoveries. Popular asset and forward Rafael Leao (8.5m) hit six points for his goal, meanwhile.

Celtic v Shakhtar Donetsk

Celtic came into the match unable to qualify for the knockout stages due to their poor Champions League run and there were question marks over the type of performance we would see from them. In the end, we witnessed a tightly contested match that saw both sides come away with a point.

Celtic midfielder Matthew O’Riley (6m) pulled in six points after his player of the match award, while his team-mate and forward Giorgos Giakoumakis (6.8m) equalled that score with a goal. Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Mykhailo Mudryk (6.3m) picked up eight points after his own strike.

Leipzig v Real Madrid 

This was one of the most entertaining fixtures in Matchday 5. The German home side have struggled to maintain any sort of consistency all season. However, they put on a fantastic overall performance to finish the match as 3-2 victors. 

Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan (4.7m) continued his fantastic returning rate in UCL Fantasy, finishing with a nine-point haul after his assist and the player of the match award. Team-mate and defender Josko Gvardiol (4.5m) matched his colleague for points thanks to a goal and seven ball recoveries.

The well-owned Madridista Vinicius Junior (10m) also had a successful Matchday 5, scoring to claim an eight-point return, but Rodrygo (8m) bettered him after taking nine points from a goal and a penalty award earned.

Dortmund v Man City 

In a match where we were expected to see plenty of goals, a 0-0 stalemate played out. Dortmund defender Mats Hummels (5m) collected 10 points after his clean sheet, eight ball recoveries and player of the match award. 

Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel (4.9m) returned 12 points after his heroic penalty save and clean sheet, while his points tally was topped up by three saves made. It was a tough night for owners of Man City defender Joao Cancelo (6.7m) and forward Erling Haaland (11.1m) as both came off at half-time, thus picking up just one point each.

READ MORE: Haaland injury latest

PSG v Maccabi Haifa

The home side really turned on the style in this one, sinking the Israeli outfit in a 7-2 victory. PSG forward Lionel Messi (10.5m) picked up a huge 20-point haul after his two goals, two assists and player of the match award.

Another massive return came from Kylian Mbappe (11.2m), with his four attacking returns resulting in a whopping 16 points for the Frenchman.

Benfica v Juventus

Barring any drama on Wednesday, the match of the week saw a seven-goal thriller play out. The home side finished the match with a 4-3 win, with Benfica forward Rafa Silva (8.5m) taking away 13 points for his two goals and the player of the match award. Silva’s team-mate and midfielder Joao Mario (6m) scored and assisted to reward his owners with a 10-point return. 

Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie (5.5m) returned eight points for his goal. 

Wednesday Captaincy

The standout captain for Wednesday looks to be Napoli midfielder Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (5.8m). The budget asset has been one of the best value-for-money players in the game this season but is it time for him to take on the ultimate responsibility with the armband?

Napoli have averaged three goals scored per match in their last 10 games in all competitions and the Italian side next face a Rangers team that have conceded 16 goals in their current Champions League campaign. That averages out at four goals shipped per match.

Kvaratskhelia has already hit two back-to-back double-digit scores in his last two Matchdays. For that reason and the factors above, the Napoli midfielder should be highly considered for the captaincy if you’re not already sitting on a haul from Tuesday night.

Other ‘skipper’ options could include Inter defender Denzel Dumfries (5.4m), who faces a poor Plzen side. Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Salah (11.1m) is also in the mix and while the Egyptian has been inconsistent domestically this season, he’s seemingly more reliable in the Champions League.