UEFA.com takes a look at this season’s UEFA Champions League round of 16, highlighting some of the campaign’s best players so far in every position and assessing what that means for #UCLfantasy managers. Here we focus on the midfielders.
Choose your fantasy team for the round of 16
Two Premier League players lead the table in terms of #UCLfantasy midfielders with the best scores coming in the round of 16. It is not surprising that Liverpool Mohamed Salah (€ 11.6m) is one of them, with the Egyptian registering three goals and an assist in the group stage and collecting 34 fantasy points for his efforts.
Manchester City are also on 34 points Ferran Torres (€ 7.7m). The winger, signed this summer from Valencia, was one of the shining lights of the group stage, scoring each of the first three matchdays and scoring four goals in five games on Matchday 6, the total on highest among midfielders this season. competition so far. Salah and Torres will both face away games on Matchday 7, with Liverpool in Leipzig and Manchester City facing Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Sitting just behind Salah and Torres, two other players are currently tied with 33 points #UCLfantasy – Salah’s teammate Diogo Jota (€ 7.9 million) and Kingsley Coman (€ 8.5m) from Bayern. The latter missed the 5th and 6th matchday but had already scored three goals and two assists in his first four matches. Coman’s highest individual run came on Matchday 1 when he racked up 16 points against Atlético thanks to two goals and one assist.
Jota, meanwhile, only recorded significant offensive returns on Days 2 and 3, but one in particular proved to be extremely significant from a fantasy perspective. After scoring his first UEFA Champions League goal against Midtjylland on Matchday 2, Jota followed with a sensational hat-trick to Atalanta in the next match round. This saw Jota score 18 points on Matchday 3 and put him firmly on the radar of all #UCLfantasy managers, who will be waiting to see if the Portuguese star can come back from injury in time for the Round of 16.
Goals and assists aren’t the only source of points for midfielders in #UCLfantasy. Ball scoops also play an important role and one of those midfielders who has benefited is Danilo (5.6 M €) of Paris Saint-Germain. The Portuguese player racked up 47 digs during the group stage, giving him an extra 14 Fantasy Points and raising his overall score to 27 points.
Likewise, Real Madrid Casemiro (6.2 million euros) benefits from this avenue of points with 13 additional #UCLfantasy points accumulated in the group stage thanks to a total of 42 ball recoveries. Add that to his goal and his assist on Matchday 2, and the Brazilian was able to increase his overall score to 29 points.
