Champions League Fantasy Football: Top performers on Matchday 4
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Article summary
Erling Haaland, Bukayo Saka and Antoine Griezmann were the top scorers on 14 points each while Pepe led the way for defenders on 13 and Andriy Lunin's 12 points was the best goalkeeping return.
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With the fourth round of UEFA Champions League group games completed, UEFA.com looks at the players who excelled on Matchday 4 of #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.
GOALKEEPERS
After Kepa suffered an injury in the warm-up, Andriy Lunin (€4.5m) was tasked with stepping in at the last minute for Real Madrid's home game against Braga. What resulted was the highest matchday score among any goalkeeper, Lunin not only keeping a clean sheet but also saving a penalty in a 12-point return.
Group F leaders Dortmund kept a third straight clean sheet, which means Gregor Kobel (€5.0m) is now the top-scoring goalkeeper on Fantasy overall. The Swiss international's seven points was matched by Lazio's Ivan Provedel (€5.0m), Walter Benítez (€4.9m) of PSV and Inter No1 Yann Sommer (€4.5m).
Premium duo Ederson (€6.0m) and Jan Oblak (€6.0m) kept their first clean sheets of the European campaign for Man City and Atlético de Madrid respectively, while Dmytro Riznyk (€4.0m) was the cheapest goalkeeper to record a shut-out thanks to Shakhtar Donetsk's impressive victory against Barcelona.
DEFENDERS
Top of the point-scoring charts for defenders on Matchday 4 was veteran centre-back Pepe (€4.5m), who became the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history in Porto's home win against Antwerp. The 40-year-old received 13 points, while team-mate João Mário (€4.5m) also reached double figures after winning the Player of the Match award.
Shakhtar full-back Giorgi Gocholeishvili (€4.4m) logged a clean sheet, assist and nine ball recoveries against Barcelona, finishing on 12 points, while Dortmund pair Nico Schlotterbeck (€5.6m) and Mats Hummels (€5.0m) continued their strong form and have accumulated more Fantasy points than any other defender so far.
Rico Lewis (€4.6m) has featured heavily for Man City in the Champions League this season, playing every minute of their last three Group G games, and his nine-point score on Matchday 4 was his highest of the campaign. With the Premier League side having now confirmed their round of 16 spot, the budget defender could get more opportunities across Matchdays 5 and 6.
MIDFIELDERS
Bukayo Saka (€9.6m) picked up 14 points on Matchday 4 thanks to a goal, assist and Player of the Match award as Arsenal completed the double over Sevilla. That is now five attacking returns for Saka in Europe this season, with only Jude Bellingham (€7.9m) and Brais Méndez (€6.9m) the only midfielders with higher Fantasy scores.
Julian Brandt (€7.5m), Diogo Gonçalves (€7.0m), Mikel Merino (€7.0m) and Xaver Schlager (€5.6m) all posted double-figure returns. Schlager in particular looks excellent value for money; the Leipzig man has recorded more ball recoveries (27) than any other midfielder to date.
Matchday 4 brought another sparkling performance from Xavi Simons (€6.6m), who has 20 points over the course of his last two Group G games for Leipzig, while PSV winger Johan Bakayoko (€7.5m) has also impressed over the same period, recording an assist against Lens on Wednesday to go with his Matchday 3 strike against the same opposition.
FORWARDS
It was a profitable matchday for a selection of premium forwards as Erling Haaland (€11.5m), Antoine Griezmann (€10.5m), Harry Kane (€10.0m), Vinícius Júnior (€11.m) and Rodrygo (€9.0m) were all among the goals. With Manchester City, Bayern and Real Madrid all having now qualified for the round of 16 though, Fantasy managers should be wary of rotation for the final two group games.
It is two more budget-friendly forwards, however, that top the goalscoring charts in the 2023/24 Champions League. Atlético de Madrid's Álvaro Morata (€7.8m) and Rasmus Højlund (€7.3m) of Manchester United both scored twice on Matchday 4 and lead the way on five goals for the campaign.
Lazio stalwart Ciro Immobile (€7.5m) got off the mark in the Champions League by scoring the only goal of the game against Feyenoord, and Evanilson (€7.1m) struck his fourth goal in two games against Antwerp as Porto boosted their qualification hopes with a second successive victory against the Belgian side.