Champions League Fantasy Football: Matchday 12 options

UEFA.com casts an eye over some of the stand-out players from Matchday 11 and the most attractive options in all positions ahead of the UEFA Champions League semi-final second legs, with three free transfers for Matchday 12 on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

GOALKEEPERS

Inter’s André Onana (€5.0m) was the only goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet on Matchday 11, holding Milan at bay to record his fourth successive Champions League shut-out. No goalkeeper has gained more Fantasy points this season than Onana, who is the cheapest of the four players who started in his position on Matchday 11.

Mike Maignan (€5.4m) had recorded three consecutive seven-point scores ahead of Matchday 11, but was beaten twice in the first 11 minutes as Milan fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Inter, leaving him with just two Fantasy points. Ederson (€6.0m) also scored two points in Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Real Madrid, although home advantage may bring a higher return on Matchday 12, the Brazilian having gained two clean sheets, five saves and 13 Fantasy points in City’s last two fixtures in Manchester.

Comfortably the highest-owned Fantasy goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois (€5.9m) made five saves on Matchday 11, more than any other player, which led to three Fantasy points.

DEFENDERS

As the only team to shut out their opponents on Matchday 11, Fantasy managers who own multiple defensive assets from Inter were celebrating come full time. The five top-scoring defenders were all from the Nerazzurri, full-back Federico Dimarco (€4.7m) topping the charts with nine points after setting up the second goal against Milan. Francesco Acerbi (€4.5m) and Matteo Darmian (€4.4m) recorded six and eight ball recoveries respectively as both ended Matchday 11 with eight Fantasy points.

Manchester City’s Rúben Dias (€5.7m) gained four points on Matchday 11 to make it 24 over the course of the last four matchdays. The Portuguese international’s consistency should ensure his continued popularity going into the second legs, although over the same period team-mate John Stones (€5.1m) has picked up one point more than Dias and is a cheaper option.

After being suspended on Matchday 11, centre-back Éder Militão (€5.5m) could come back into the Real Madrid starting XI on Matchday 12 having scored 32 Fantasy points in his last five Champions League appearances. Meanwhile, if Milan are to overturn a two-goal deficit against Inter, a clean sheet will be vital so Fikayo Tomori (€5.0m) and Theo Hernández (€5.9m) could be of Fantasy interest. No player in any position boasts more ball recoveries heading into Matchday 12 than Tomori’s 55.

MIDFIELDERS

A Champions League matchday without an attacking return from Vinícius Júnior (€10.4m) has been a rarity this season, and that remains the case after Matchday 11. The Brazilian attacker is the only Fantasy asset to have broken 90 points in 2022/23 after hitting his seventh Champions League goal of the season against Manchester City, making it 13 attacking returns in this season’s competition.

However, the Real Madrid man’s Matchday 11 score of nine points was bettered by two other midfielders, Kevin De Bruyne (€10.5m) having cancelled out Vinícius’s opening goal with a superb strike of his own. That helped the Belgian to 11 points, a total swelled by his fourth Champions League Player of the Match award this season. The City playmaker has 33 Fantasy points over the past four matchdays.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (€7.0m) matched De Bruyne’s return, recording his highest points total of the season on Matchday 11 after scoring Inter’s second goal against Milan and also being named Player of the Match. Inter team-mate Hakan Çalhanoğlu (€7.4m), who set up the opening goal of the game, gained seven points overall.

FORWARDS

Rafael Leão (€8.5m) missed Matchday 11 due to injury and his absence was keenly felt with Milan unable to breach the Inter defence. Milan fans and Fantasy managers alike will be hoping the speedy forward recovers quickly, although the Milan starting line-up revealed before the Matchday 12 deadline, his involvement or otherwise will be known in advance.

It was a matchday to forget from a forward’s perspective with only Edin Džeko (€7.5m) finding the net. With a low ownership, the Inter strike could prove a shrewd differential on Matchday 12, whilst on the opposite side, Olivier Giroud (€8.3m) should not be ignored having scored in Milan’s quarter-final second leg against Napoli.

The two most popular and most expensive Fantasy forwards failed to get on the scoresheet in the 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Manchester City but both Karim Benzema (€10.9m) and Erling Haaland (€11.2m) boast the pedigree to change that in the second leg. Benzema scored twice on his last visit to Manchester, while Haaland has six goals and an assist in his last two home Champions League fixtures.