The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign begins in just over a week’s time โ and so does the competitionโs official Fantasy game.
Weโll have plenty of UCL Fantasy coverage in preparation for the big kick-off, plus regular articles throughout the season.
Here, one of our Pro Pundits, FPL Milanista (aka Obay), shares some expert tips on the game. Obay knows what he’s talking about, too, with finishes of 344th, 141st and 31st in recent seasons.
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The UEFA Champions League is back in September – and this time it comes with a totally different competition structure.
UCL Fantasy managers will have to adjust to the new format. The games-makers clearly have, too. They have allowed us three non-chip related periods of unlimited free transfers: before Matchday 1, ahead of the knockout round play-offs, and ahead of the round of 16.
I’ve always viewed UCL Fantasy as a fast-paced game that needs a lot of aggressive moves. The new setup may change that a bit but my first instinct is that chips will always be better utilised early on to maximize the benefits of having the weaker sides still in play.
STUDYING THE FIXTURES

Alongside increasing the number of Matchdays from 13 to 17, a big change in the new setup is that teams will no longer face each other twice in the first round – or the group stages, if you want to keep calling it that. This will have a big impact on our strategies.
Typically, dedicated UCL Fantasy managers preferred Wildcarding ahead of Matchday 3 to allow themselves to attack Matchday 3 and 4 fixtures in one hit. These used to be the same fixtures in the old group stage format, just reversing the home side.
But with the new format, each team will have a unique set of fixtures – so studying the Fantasy Football Scout ticker will be vital for better chip preparation.
In UCL Fantasy, knowing that chips can be used in the first round, which now runs over eight Matchdays instead of six, provides managers an extra shot at being aggressive.
Unlike in FPL, you don’t have to create your Matchday 1 side caring too much about a team that has a nice run in Matchdays 5-8 for example – that is exactly what your transfers and chips are there to cover. In other words, your initial squad that you enter must have the potential to go big in the first Matchday or two. Trying to capture the upside of doubling up/tripling up on certain teams with juicy fixtures early on is the right play, in my opinion.
EARLY THOUGHTS ON CHIP STRATEGY

Thatโs it from me for now.
I will do my best to go through the best teams to target and some key differentials that might prosper before the first kick-off.
Good luck everyone, and I hope we all get to enjoy the new Champions League format this season!




