UCL Fantasy: Knockout stage squad draft with unlimited transfers

The knockout stage of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League (UCL) gets underway on Tuesday and the official Fantasy game for Europe’s premier club competition recommences, too (the official game app is here).

Even if you’ve not entered a team in the group stages, you can still sign up and win prizes now – just by entering a team, for example, you’ll be in with a chance of winning a Playstation 5.

There are also prizes awarded for the leading managers every Matchday (the equivalent of a Gameweek), as well as the overall leaderboard rewards.

You can launch in right now to start your team tinkering, and unlimited transfers are allowed before play restarts on Tuesday evening.

SIGN UP TO PLAY UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FANTASY HERE

We’ve enlisted the help of our resident European football buff, FFFrog, for the below article in which he selects a draft team with the unlimited transfers on offer.

Goalkeepers

• Remko Pasveer (5.1m)
• Sven Ulreich (4.5m)

Pasveer and Ulreich are two ‘keepers with great fixtures, and at great prices. Pasveer’s Ajax have conceded just five goals in the Eredivisie this season, giving them the best defensive league record of any team still left in the competition. Ajax face a Benfica side who scored just seven goals in six UCL group games in a match in which they are heavy favourites.

Ulreich may be fresh from a 4-2 drubbing at the hands of lowly VfL Bochum, but he’s still a starting Bayern Munich keeper at just 4.5m. Although Salzburg are an attacking force under Matthias Jaissle, they’re still no real match for Bayern, who have the joint-best defensive record in the Bundesliga. With Manuel Neuer out for up to six weeks, Ulreich is a safe pick at a great price and could still be starting by the quarter-finals. 

Defenders

• Joao Cancelo (6.5m) 
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (6.6m)
• Noussair Mazraoui (5.1m)
• Cesar Azpilicueta (5.7m)
• Felipe (4.7m)

Joshua Kimmich (6.8m) and Achraf Hakimi (6.7m) are both great options in the premium defender bracket, but it’s hard to look past Cancelo and Alexander-Arnold given their domestic form. Cancelo is the highest-scoring defender in the game from just five starts, with three double-digit hauls. His 33 balls recovered also puts him in the top ten for defenders. City are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions and Cancelo is a crucial cog in Pep Guardiola’s Premier League-best attack and defence. Given their form, City’s tie with Sporting is probably the clearest mismatch of the last 16.

Alexander-Arnold is playing some of his best football at the moment, with 16 assists from 28 appearances this season already. Inter Milan have hit a few speedbumps recently, with draws against Atalanta and Napoli and the 2-1 derby loss to AC knocking them off the top of Serie A. This is good news for Alexander-Arnold, who looks close to essential for this tie.

As with Pasveer, Mazraoui plays in this fortress of an Ajax defence. He’s got five goals this season, as well as 30 balls recovered in the group stage. He has a great chance of scoring big against Benfica. Cesar Azpilicueta looks set to start as right wing-back for Chelsea with Reece James still some way from starting. Lille have only won two of their last five league games and got battered 5-1 by PSG a couple of weeks ago. Despite their poor recent form, this Chelsea side are still the European champions and should have far too much for Lille.

There’s a clear lack of budget defenders left in the game, and Felipe certainly isn’t the perfect pick, but just might do the job. It’s no secret that this Atletico side are not the defensive monster they used to be, but Ralf Rangnick’s United just haven’t quite clicked yet and there could be points in this game for the veteran centre-back.

Midfielders

• Leroy Sane (9.4m)
• Mohamed Salah (10.9m)
• Riyad Mahrez (9.4m)
• Arnaut Danjuma (6.8m)
• Nicholas Seiwald (5.2m)

Sane and Salah are the two top-scoring midfielders in the game, with solid last-16 fixtures. Not much more needs saying about this duo: they play for great attacking teams and are brilliant, often selfish players who rack up points. 

Riyad Mahrez is City’s top scorer this season and has often turned up for them in the UCL when needed most. He already has five goals in this season’s competition and Pep seems to trust him in the big games. This spot could go to Phil Foden (8.2m) or Raheem Sterling (10.2m), but Mahrez is often on penalties and is perhaps the most sure-fire starter of the three. 

Given the lack of budget forward options, some money needs to be saved in the midfield. This is where Danjuma and Seiwald come in. Calling Danjuma a budget option is perhaps doing him a disservice, but Villarreal’s tie with a much-improved Juventus is tough. After a strong group stage, Danjuma comes into this game as the third-highest scoring midfielder in UCL Fantasy and is back to full fitness after starting in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Real Madrid. 

Seiwald is a true budget option and makes the side by virtue of having the third-most balls recovered of all midfielders (38). Bayern will run at Salzburg and give the Austrian youngster plenty of chances to rack up balls recovered points. Seiwald also got an assist in the MD3 3-1 win over Wolfsburg.

Forwards 

• Robert Lewandowski (12m)
• Sebastian Haller (9.3m)
• Dusan Vlahovic (9.5m)

Two out of three of this forward line need no real explanation. The two top scorers in this season’s competition, with nine and ten goals respectively, Lewandowski and Haller seem to be in a class of their own. They have great fixtures and are in scintillating domestic form, so these really seem like no-brainers.

This third forward spot is a tough choice, but I’ve gone for Juventus’ new signing Dusan Vlahovic. He’s already got on the scoresheet for the Old Lady and has looked dangerous in his first few games. Juve are unbeaten in their last six games and are looking ever better going forward. Vlahovic will be on penalties and will be the key man for Juve if they get through this tie.