Champions League Fantasy Football: The Scout squad for Matchday 5

As the qualification picture continues to clear, the Scout's squad for the penultimate round of group games focuses mainly on players whose clubs still have everything to play for on Matchday 5.

Goalkeepers

With selection a possible concern at a number of the clubs who might usually be expected to have players in contention for the squad, Tuesday's selection is Ivo Grbić (€4.8m). The LOSC Lille goalkeeper has collected 16 points over the first four matchdays, 14 of those coming at home, with his budget price also helping to make him a strong contender for selection ahead of Salzburg's visit to northern France.

The likes of Inter and Atlético are among the teams in action on Wednesday who have realistic ambitions of keeping a clean sheet, but Ajax's Remko Pasveer (€4.9m) has picked up a solid 18 points to date ahead of a trip to Beşiktaş, who have lost all four games so far and managed only two goals. The Dutch club have conceded only twice themselves, and have been exemplary in this season's Eredivisie, shipping only two goals in 12 matches.

Defenders

The defensive performances of Ajax this season mean all their first-choice defenders are viable selection options; the preference is for Noussair Mazraoui (€4.9m), who has accumulated two clean sheets and an assist on his way to 24 #UCLfantasy points. Also on that total is Milan Škriniar (€5.7m), whose Inter side welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to Milan with the last three games between the clubs, all in the last two seasons, having finished scoreless and the Ukrainian club failing to find the net in three of their four Group D games in 2021/22.

LOSC are also represented in the back line in the shape of Zeki Çelik (€5.3m), who has picked up 19 points from only three group appearances while Stefan Savić (€4.5m) is in line for his first appearance in this season's UEFA Champions League after suspension and will hope to bolster an Atlético defence that has managed only one clean sheet from four attempts to date. The fifth defender is Sporting CP's Sebastián Coates (€5.2m), who collected 26 of his total of 29 #UCLfantasy points across the last two matchdays and whose team have conceded only four goals in their 11 Portuguese Liga games, keeping clean sheets in the last three.

Midfielders

The five midfielders are led by Bayern's Leroy Sané (€9.2m), the top scorer on the game overall with a remarkable 51 points from his four matches, 16 of which came against Matchday 2 opponents Dynamo Kyiv in Munich. Also in form are Sporting's Pedro Gonçalves (€8.0m), who has five goals in his last three club appearances including two on Matchday 4 in Lisbon, where the Portuguese champions face Dortmund this week, and Mario Pašalić (€7.7m). The Atalanta midfielder has only picked up ten #UCLfantasy points but has three goals and an assist in his last two Serie A appearances and earned seven points on his most recent away UEFA Champions League game, with the Italian club travelling to Young Boys this week.

Also looking to continue an impressive run of form is Inter's Marcelo Brozović (€6.8m), who collected 20 points across Matchday 3 and 4 and now faces an appealing home fixture against Shakhtar. Sheriff's Sébastien Thill (€5.9m) is both a budget enabler and a consistent deliverer of Fantasy points having picked up seven, nine and six in his last three appearances, including a remarkable winning goal away to Matchday 5 opponents Real Madrid.

Forwards

With Bayern already through to the round of 16, Robert Lewandowski's selection would represent something of a gamble so Sébastien Haller (€9.1m) gets the nod as he is hot on the heels of the Bayern striker and will look to maintain his record of scoring in every group game when Ajax visit Beşiktaş. Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior (€8.3m) is still flying somewhat under the radar at 14% ownership but has picked up 23 points in the last two matchdays from his season's total of 30 and, having scored three times in his last three Liga appearances as he enjoys his most productive campaign yet in front of goal, is well placed to add to that total at Sheriff.

Duván Zapata (€9.7m) is another player who could prove a shrewd differential selection, with only 1% of #UCLfantasy teams including the Colombian at the time of writing. The Atalanta striker has 23 points to date, including eight from the home fixture against Young Boys, and has scored in the Italian club's last five games in all competitions.