The 2023/24 UEFA Champions League (UCL) continues on Tuesday – which means it’s also time for the competition’s official Fantasy game.
With plenty of UCL Fantasy articles coming throughout the season, our in-house expert FPL Reactions picks out the most appealing assets of Matchday 2.
If you’re new to the game or need reminding of the rules, check out our ‘how to play’ guide below.
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UCL FANTASY MATCHDAY 2
GOALKEEPERS
- Sven Ulreich (€4.5m) – Bayern Munich are up against Copenhagen, a team that constantly fails to translate their domestic form into Europe and scored just once in their 2022/23 UCL campaign. With his budget-friendly price tag, Ulreich could be a brilliant Tuesday pick.
- Dmytro Riznyk (€4.0m) – Playing on Wednesday, Riznyk comes in at one of the cheapest playing prices in the game. There is concern about the potential lack of Wednesday clean sheets, so investing as little as possible into your goalkeeper should benefit the Shakhtar stopper. They face Antwerp, so there could even be a very good chance of a return.
DEFENDERS
- Giovanni Di Lorenzo (€5.5m) – One of the game’s best defensive assets, Di Lorenzo is against the mighty Real Madrid. Despite this, the Italian has started the season with a bang in terms of attacking output, bagging two goals and two assists. Playing at home may also boost his prospects.
- Robin Gosens (€5.0m) – As Union Berlin play with wing-backs, it allows such players to get into some great final-third positions. Gosens is already benefitting from this, having netted three goals in this campaign.
- Joao Cancelo (€6.0m) – Barcelona had the best defensive stats in Europe last season, so investing in it could be beneficial. Furthermore, in Cancelo, the Spanish giants also have a player who offers much more than clean sheet potential. He has already registered two goals and one assist.
- Federico Dimarco (€5.5m) – Inter have started their season in fine form by winning six of their first eight games and keeping five clean sheets. There were also eight shut-outs during their run to the 2022/23 final. Like Union Berlin, Inter’s back-three system gives Dimarco license to advance into some very dangerous positions on the pitch. Three assists and one goal have arrived, meaning he has multiple routes to points when facing out-of-sorts Benfica on Tuesday.
- Alessio Romagnoli (€4.5m) – With Matchday 2 clean sheets tough to pinpoint, bringing in a budget enabler like Romagnoli has benefits. The centre-back has potential in terms of ball recoveries and comes against a Celtic side that consistently fails to perform in the Champions League.
MIDFIELDERS
- Brais Mendez (€6.5m) – Real Sociedad surprised everyone with their game versus Inter. The Spanish side’s form is going under the radar, as they’ve won all three games since then, netting eight times. Therefore it could be worth selecting Mendes after he picked up 12 points in Matchday 1 and has racked up three assists and one goal domestically.
- Leroy Sane (€9.0m) – Bayern regularly maintain one of the highest scoring averages in Europe so investing in their frontline is key. They also face a side that conceded twice in Matchday 1 and 12 times during the 2022/23 group stage. One of the best ways to target the Copenhagen defence is via Sane, on six goals since the start of the season and named the club’s Player of the Month.
- Oscar Gloukh (€5.0m) – Salzburg have won eight of their last 10 games in all competitions and scored twice past Benfica in Matchday 1. A cheap and effective way into the Austrian side is 19-year-old Gloukh, with one of his three goals coming against the Portuguese giants. Not just in form, he enables the budget to be used elsewhere within the Fantasy squad.
- Martin Ødegaard (€9.0m) – Uncertainty around Bukayo Saka’s (€9.5m) injury could be negated by owning team-mate Ødegaard. The Norwegian is likely to play more minutes than any other Arsenal attacker this week, has a good chance of taking penalties, notched up a huge 15 points in Matchday 1 and has bagged four goals and one assist in all competitions.
- Marcus Thuram (€6.5m) – Meanwhile, this ‘out of position’ Inter midfielder continues to play up front, which majorly boosts his appeal. Many managers may avoid Thuram after his Matchday 1 absence but this was an attempt to rest him by manager Simone Inzaghi. A failed one. Taking his six goal involvements from eight games into account, Thuram could be a great pick against Benfica.
FORWARDS
- Harry Kane (€10.0m) – Bayern come into the next round as overwhelming favourites, with a lot of goals expected. So it would be unwise to go without their focal point and penalty-taker Kane. Arriving as one of the most consistent strikers in world football over recent years, he has started in style thanks to a massive nine goals and four assists.
- Erling Halaand (€11.5m) – Similarly, Manchester City also sustain one of the best scoring averages in Europe. The most obvious route into this attack is Haaland and his eight goals from seven matches so far.
- Ciro Immobile (€7.5m) – Lazio have a huge opportunity to lead their group by facing Celtic. The Scottish champions conceded a huge 15 goals in their 2022/23 campaign and their defence is one to target. With that in mind, Immobile leads the way and also takes penalties.
CAPTAINCY
Tuesday could be a very interesting day for armbands. A lot of managers like to take a small risk here, knowing they’d have a safer captaincy option on Wednesday. However, the first night’s outstanding name is Harry Kane. Not only are Bayern in great scoring form, his own output has been brilliant and he comes up against the poor Copenhagen. Team-mate Leroy Sane is also a good idea, as he’d be eligible for a clean sheet point and gets one more per goal than Kane.
For those still wanting to take some risk, you could choose Bukayo Saka for Arsenal’s trip to Lens or even an Inter wing-back like Federico Dimarco or Denzel Dumfries (€5.5m).
Unsurprisingly, the standout captaincy for Wednesday is Erling Haaland. He banked an incredible five goals in one match against this opposition last season.
UCL FANTASY MATCHDAY 2 PICKS
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