Champions League Fantasy Football: Midfielders

With the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League fast approaching, UEFA.com picks out a selection of midfielders who may have a big part to play on Matchday 11 on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

No Fantasy midfielder has been as consistent when it comes to attacking returns as Vinícius Júnior (€10.3m), who has at least one in all nine of his starts in this season's competition with six goals and six assists in total. The Brazilian is the top-scoring Fantasy asset with an unmatched 82 points, although two other Real Madrid midfielders are also worthy of attention. Rodrygo (€8.0m) scored two goals and 13 Fantasy points on Matchday 10 against Chelsea while Federico Valverde (€6.9m) was named Player of the Match in that quarter-final second leg. A ten-point haul took his total Fantasy score to 60, one higher than Rodrygo.

Pep Guardiola has plenty of quality midfielders at his disposal, but from a Fantasy perspective Kevin De Bruyne (€10.5m) looks to be the leading option. The Belgian set up Manchester City's only goal in a 1-1 draw at Bayern in the quarter-final second leg to seal a 4-1 aggregate triumph and was also named Player of the Match – his third award this season – meaning he comes into the semi-finals having accrued 22 points over the last three matchdays. Bernardo Silva (€8.3m) is another to consider having played a decisive role in City's first leg against Bayern with a goal, an assist and 11 Fantasy points.

Nicolò Barella (€6.8m) found the net in both legs of Inter's quarter-final victory against Benfica, giving him consecutive scores of eight points and taking his overall Fantasy total for this season to 46 points. Barella is the cheapest option among the top five highest-scoring Fantasy midfielders.

Semi-final opponents Milan boast their own Italian central midfield star in Sandro Tonali (€6.8m), who has scored just five fewer points than Barella. Fellow Milan midfielder Ismaël Bennacer (€5.9m) also warrants attention, especially given his 41 ball recoveries, fewer only than Toni Kroos (€6.6m) and Rodri (€6.1m), who have both played significantly more minutes, among midfielders. The Algerian also offers an attacking threat, scoring the only goal in Milan's quarter-final first-leg win at home to Napoli.