UCL Fantasy: Who are the best players for ball recoveries?

If FPL, Fantasy EFL and the new Fantasy Challenge game mode can’t quite quench your thirst, don’t worry – it’s not too late to sign up for UEFA Champions League Fantasy!

There are prizes given away on every Matchday (the equivalent of a Gameweek) so even latercomers have something to play for.

If you’re new to the game, we have already run through the ins and outs of how to play – including how captaincy and substitutes differ from other games – as well as producing a fixture ticker and a guide to how this year’s brand-new Champions League format works.

We’ve even listed out 60 of the best/worst UCL Fantasy team names!

Here, we’re taking a look at the players who have performed best at something that not all Fantasy football games reward you for, but UCL Fantasy certainly does: balls recovered.

Every three balls recovered are worth a point, so it’s an underlying stat worth paying attention to.

Which defenders have the highest number of balls recovered?

José María Giménez (€5.1m) currently sits atop the leaderboard among all UCL defenders for balls recovered heading into Matchday 3.

The Atlético Madrid centre-back – who is only in 2% of UCL Fantasy squads at the time of writing – has already registered 21 ball recoveries, including an impressive 15 against RB Leipzig in Matchday 1 alone, which alongside his winning goal earned him an extra five points to reach a 12-point haul. He faces Lille at home next, on October 23.

PSG’s Willian Pacho (€4.6m) is close behind the Uruguayan, with 19 balls recovered across his first two games.

10 (+3 points) of those came against Arsenal in the French champions’ last outing, helping him to a modest four points despite the Gunners having won that tie 2-0. Next up for Pacho is PSV (H) on October 22.

Mohammed Salisu (€4.0m) of Monaco is third, with 18 ball recoveries to his name so far.

The Ghanaian conceded twice and was booked in Monaco’s last match, a 2-2 draw with GNK Dinamo – but 11 balls recovered (+3 points) and a goal that got his side back in it meant Salisu still left Zagreb with nine points. The French side faces Crvena Zvezda at home in Matchday 3 but Salisu is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Also deserving of a mention are Benfica’s Alvaro Carreras (€4.5m) and Lille’s Alexsandro (€4.5m), two defenders who are still owned by 0% of managers in UCL Fantasy.

Both players came away from tricky-looking Matchday 2 fixtures – Carreras against Atléti, Alexsandro against Real Madrid – with a clean sheet, adding eight (+2 points) and nine (+3 points) balls recovered, respectively, to come away with better-than-expected returns.

Meanwhile, the Arsenal pair of Gabriel and William Saliba (both €5.5m) are just outside the top 10, with 15 apiece through their first two matches.

Which midfielders have the highest number of balls recovered?

A Benfica midfielder is the highest-achieving ball recoverer so far in UCL Fantasy. That man is Florentino (€5.0m).

The budget enabler has bagged seven extra points across the first two Matchdays by racking up a combined 23 ball recoveries in wins over Crvena Zvezda and Atlético Madrid. 

He, along with the rest of the top six midfielders in this metric, is owned by 0% of UCL Fantasy managers – but an awareness of this new route to points may change that ahead of Benfica’s home match against Feyenoord on October 23.

Alongside his defensive teammate Salisu, Denis Zakaria (€5.5m) – who sits second in the midfielders’ balls recovered leaderboard, with 18 – was another beneficiary of Monaco’s last match.

The Swiss international recovered 14 balls (+4 points) against GNK Dinamo, and scored his side’s other goal to finish on 11 points.

But it was Jerdy Schouten (€5.5m) who found himself among the highest Matchday 2 scorers.

The PSV midfielder boosted his tally of balls recovered in the Champions League so far to 17 in his team’s 1-1 draw against Sporting CP, registering 11 (+3 points) as well as a goal from outside the box (+6 points) and a Player of the Match award (+3 points) to earn 14 points in one sitting.

Brest’s Hugo Magnetti (€5.1m) certainly looks like one to keep an eye on, having secured a goal, assist, 16 ball recoveries and 19 points across his first two matches. His side hosts Bayer Leverkusen next, on October 23.

Currently available at the same price point is Liverpool’s (€5.1m), who has less points – 12 – so far but his reached that number despite failing to deliver any goals or assists yet.

Instead, the Dutchman has recovered six balls (+3 points) in each of the Reds’ first two matches, and also won Player of the Match in a 3-1 victory over AC Milan in Matchday 1.

Which forwards have the highest number of balls recovered?

We have to drop some way down the overall list of players with the highest ball recoveries so far before we find some forwards – but there are a few on there.

Top amongst his peers in that regard is Bologna’s Dan Ndoye (€6.0m), with eight balls recovered having earned him two extra points heading into Matchday 3’s fixture away at Aston Villa on October 22.

That’s been Ndoye’s only source of returns so far – but not so for Mehdi Taremi (€7.0m).

The Inter Milan forward recovered three balls (+1 point) in his side’s Matchday 1 draw stalemate against Manchester City, and followed that up with another four ball recoveries (+1 point) when Inter trounced Crvena Zvezda 4-0 last time out.

Taremi also scored a goal and grabbed two assists in that match, winning Player of the Match to tot up a 16-point haul.

Kerem Aktürkoğlu (€6.1m) of Benfica, meanwhile, has delivered a goal in each of his first two UCL matches this season, alongside six total ball recoveries.

But the overall highest-scoring player amongst the top 10 forwards for ball recoveries is Brest’s Abdallah Sima (€5.1m).

Sima has only added one extra point through his recovery of five balls over the course of Brest’s opening two UCL fixtures, but that came amidst a 14-point haul from his side’s 4-0 battering of RB Salzburg in Matchday 2.

The Senegalese loanee from Brighton and Hove Albion netted twice in that last fixture, adding to his goal in Brest’s campaign-opening win over Sturm Graz.

Most forwards who do well for recoveries tend to play out wide rather than through the middle. They consequently see a lot more of the action and typically do a lot more off-the-ball work, hence the spike in ball recovery numbers.

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