UCL Fantasy Football: Tuesday lessons

UEFA.com looks at the key #UCLfantasy talking points from Tuesday’s action in the UEFA Champions League.

Four teams have already booked their spot in the round of 16 following Tuesday’s matches with Chelsea, Sevilla, Barcelona and Juventus ensuring that their UEFA Champions League journey will continue into next year. Owners of #UCLfantasy assets from those clubs should now be wary of the threat of rotation for the next couple of matchdays, with Lionel Messi owners having already fallen victim to that as the Argentinian sat out Barcelona's away victory against Dynamo Kyiv. In his absence, Martin Braithwaite (€5.8m) picked up a remarkable 15 points, two ahead of team-mate Sergiño Dest (€5.0m).

The race to be the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League is hotting up with three of the leading protagonists all on the scoresheet on Tuesday evening. Erling Braut Haaland (€11.0m), who was heavily captained by #UCLfantasy managers, leads the way on six goals with the Dortmund man registering twice against Club Brugge for the second matchday in succession to pick up 12 points, while Marcus Rashford and Álvaro Morata also got on the scoresheet for Manchester United and Juventus respectively.

It was another Manchester United player who stole the headlines though, Bruno Fernandes (€9.5m) helping himself to 12 points courtesy of his two goals against İstanbul Başakşehir. That is now 21 goals in 35 appearances since he joined the Premier League side, but owners can be forgiven for being a little disappointed at missing out on an even bigger haul last night as the Portuguese star – usually on penalty duty – passed up the chance of a hat-trick by allowing Rashford to take the spot kick instead.

Those looking for a differential striker over the next two matchdays may want to consider Lazio’s Ciro Immobile (€10.5m) who, following his double against Zenit that brought in 13 points, now sits on three goals and an assist for the campaign despite not featuring on Matchdays 2 and 3. The winner of the 2019/20 ESM Golden Shoe features in just 2% of #UCLfantasy teams at present.