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

The league phase draw means another season of UEFA Champions League Fantasy Football, presented by PlayStation, is just around the corner and managers again have the opportunity to call on the talents of some of Europe's best footballers to score points, dominate their leagues and win top prizes. There are unlimited transfers ahead of the first deadline of the season on Matchday 1, so get involved early on and select your initial squad today.

UEFA Champions League Fantasy rules

• 15-player 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 league phase
• 2 free transfers every matchday in league phase
• Substitutions within a matchday
• Change captain to maximise points total

How do you score points in Champions League Fantasy?

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

• Goals (4 points for forwards, 5 points for midfielders, 6 points 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 make substitutions between Tuesday and Wednesday if your starting players don't score as heavily as you hope, you can switch captains too – and with double points on offer for the player who gets the armband, that's a great opportunity to register big scores.

Leagues

Want to challenge your mates? Why not set up a private league and give them the code to take you on 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.

Key deadlines

• Matchday 1: Tuesday 17 September (time TBC)
• Matchday 2: Tuesday 1 October (time TBC)
• Matchday 3: Tuesday 22 October (time TBC)
• Matchday 4: Tuesday 5 November (time TBC)
• Matchday 5: Tuesday 26 November (time TBC)
• Matchday 6: Tuesday 10 December (time TBC)
• Matchday 7: Tuesday 21 January (time TBC)
• Matchday 8: Wednesday 29 January (time TBC)
• Knockout round play-off 1st leg: Tuesday 11 February (time TBC)
• Knockout round play-off 2nd leg: Tuesday 18 February (time TBC)
• Round of 16 1st leg: Tuesday 4 March (time TBC)
• Round of 16 2nd leg: Tuesday 11 March (time TBC)
• Quarter-final 1st leg: Tuesday 8 April (time TBC)
• Quarter-final 2nd leg: Tuesday 15 April (time TBC)
• Semi-final 1st leg: Tuesday 29 April (time TBC)
• Semi-final 2nd leg: Tuesday 6 May (time TBC)
• Final: Saturday 31 May (21:00 CET)

Selected player prices

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris) – €6.0m
Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid) – €6.0m)
David Raya (Arsenal) – €5.5m
Joško Gvardiol (Man City) – €5.5m
Gabriel (Arsenal) – €5.5m
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – €6.0m
Nico Schlotterbeck (Dortmund) – €5.0m
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – €10.0m
Jamal Musiala (Bayern) – €9.0m
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – €9.m
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) – €9.0m
Erling Haaland (Man City) – €11.0m
Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) – €11.0m
Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) – €11.0m
Harry Kane (Bayern) – €10.5m