UCL Fantasy team reveal: Big up front, double Dortmund defence

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign begins this week – and so does the competition’s official Fantasy game.

We’ll have plenty of UCL Fantasy coverage in preparation for the big kick-off, plus regular articles throughout the season.

Here, our resident European football expert Louis/FPL Reactions – who co-hosts the official UCL Fantasy podcast – gives us his Matchday 1 team reveal.

• READ MORE: UCL Fantasy 2024/25 complete guide: Best players, tips, team reveals + more

How to play UCL Fantasy 2024/25

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Deciding on your chip strategy is key to building a squad. In my case, I’m fairly certain I will be using my Wildcard ahead of Matchday 6. This is mostly due to the major swing fixture swings in and around that week. It also helps that there is a lack of fixture swings between Matchdays 1-4.

CHIP STRATEGY + TIPS

It appears I will be using both of my chips towards the latter part of the League Phase.

In Matchday 8, UCL Fantasy managers have access to all the line-ups – so those who use the Limitless chip can avoid any rotation, along with the obvious benefit of having an unlimited budget. This strategy forces me into picking players I think will be good long-term assets between Matchdays 1-5.

Two other tips I would give before building your squad are:

• Be sure that your goalkeepers play on different days of the week until you plan on using a chip
• Picking between the premium players can be difficult but captaincy is king, so be sure to have a captaincy option on all three days this week

Goalkeepers

Juventus have been exceptional defensively for some time and have excellent fixtures. As an avid Serie A Fantasy manager and someone who watches Italian football, buying a Juventus asset should be a shoo-in.

Between the sticks is new signing Michele Di Gregorio (€4.5m). The Italian was instrumental in three of the four consecutive clean sheets Juventus collected in their previous four league matches.

Finding a goalkeeper who pairs well with Di Gregorio was challenging but I have decided to back Atalanta’s Marco Carnesecchi (€4.5m). Whilst Gregorio faces Leipzig and Aston Villa in Matchdays 2 and 5, Carnesecchi comes up against Shakhtar and Young Boys.

Defenders

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