Champions League Fantasy Football: All you need to know and how to play

Another season of the UEFA Champions League is just around the corner, meaning the return of UEFA.com's popular Fantasy Football game, giving you the chance to select from some of Europe's finest footballers to put together a squad that can compete with the very best around. With unlimited transfers before the Matchday 1 deadline, get ahead of the game and select your initial squad today.

Key features

• 15-man squad
• Goalkeepers x 2, Defenders x 5, Midfielders x 5, Forwards x 3
• €100m budget (rising to €105m from round of 16)
• Maximum of 3 players per team in group stage
• 2 free transfers every matchday in group stage
• Substitutions within a matchday
• Change captain to maximise points total

Key deadlines

Matchday 1: Tuesday 6 September, 18:45 CET
Matchday 2: Tuesday 13 September, 18:45 CET
Matchday 3: Tuesday 4 October, 18:45 CET
Matchday 4: Tuesday 11 October, 18:45 CET
Matchday 5: Tuesday 25 October, 18:45 CET
Matchday 6: Tuesday 1 November, 18:45 CET
Round of 16 1st leg: Tuesday 14 February, time TBC
Round of 16 2nd leg: Tuesday 7 March, time TBC
Quarter-final 1st leg: Tuesday 11 April, time TBC
Quarter-final 2nd leg: Tuesday 18 April, time TBC
Semi-final 1st leg: Tuesday 9 May, time TBC
Semi-final 2nd leg: Tuesday 16 May, time TBC
Final: Saturday 10 June, time TBC

Selected player prices

Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) – €6.0m
Jan Oblak (Atlético) – €5.5m
Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool) – €6.5m
João Cancelo (Man. City) – €6.5m
Ivan Perišić (Tottenham) – €6.0m
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – €11.0m
Sadio Mané (Bayern) – €10.5m
Kevin De Bruyne (Man. City) – €11.0m
Leroy Sané (Bayern) – €9.0m
Erling Haaland (Man. City) – €11.0m
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) – €11.0m
Kylian Mbappé (Paris) – €11.0m
Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) – €11.0m

There are plenty of ways to score points in Champions League Fantasy, but here's some key ones:

• Goals (4 points for forwards, 5 for midfielders, 6 for defenders and goalkeepers)
• Scoring from outside the box (1 point)
• Assists (3 points per player)
• Clean sheets (4 points for goalkeepers and defenders)
• Player of the Match (3 points)

Captain

A key way of maximising your points total in Champions League Fantasy is the ability to change your captain within matchdays. Just as you can substitute out players who don't deliver the points you were looking for, you can switch captains too for similar reasons – and with double points on offer for your captain, that's a great opportunity to score heavily.

Leagues

Want to take on your mates? Why not set up a private league and give them the code to challenge you and see who comes out on top over the season?

You'll also be automatically entered into three public leagues – the overall leaderboard, one with other players from your country and one with other players who support the same Champions League team as you.