It’s finally that time of the year where the anticipation slowly builds up to the first Matchday of the greatest club competition European football has to offer. The UEFA Champions League is here and with it comes the time to start tinkering with our #UCLFantasy squads too. It was just this time last week that the draw for the group stages finally happened and now we officially know who plays whom in the group stages of this year’s Champions League. In this 4 part UCL fantasy preview series, I will try to deep-dive into all the 8 groups respectively and give my opinion on the players to target, I will also predict who will eventually go through to the round of 16 knock-out stages later on in the competition.
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Let’s dive right into it then, shall we?
Quick note: Since I am previewing the group stages now, I have taken all the stats and data from last year’s Champions League season and for the new teams playing this year, I will be taking data from their respective leagues.
All stats used are taken from: https://fbref.com/en/
GROUP A : Manchester City, PSG, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge
UCL Fantasy Group A preview
UCL Fantasy Group A looks quite straightforward in terms of teams like Manchester City & PSG, who I feel will dominate the group stages and should eventually get through to the next stages without too much hassle.
Manchester City
Let’s talk about the juggernaut that is Man City. Last year, they were just 90 minutes away from lifting the Champions League trophy and I am sure Pep and Co will be dying to go a step further in the upcoming season. Talking about numbers, Man City averaged 2.16 goals/game in the group stages and conceded just a solitary goal. They had an xG of 12.5 and possession of 61% which is what is expected from a Pep Guardiola team.
This year, it doesn’t look any different in terms of how they will play and with the addition of a certain Jack Grealish 8M for $100 Million, things are only going to get better for the team from the blue side of Manchester.
City plays their first game against a depleted RB Leipzig who has lost two of their mainstays at the back in Dayot Upamecano 5.5M (transferred to Bayern) & Ibrahima Konate 5M (transferred to Liverpool) and their midfield rock from last season Marcel Sabitzer 8m (also to Bayern). Hence, in my opinion, you should at least have 2 City players come Matchday 1 in your #UCLFantasy squad.
Top UCL Fantasy assets to own from Man City
- Kevin De Bruyne (Midfielder 11M) (if fit*)
- Ferran Torres (Midfielder 7.5M)
- Kyle Walker (Defender 5.5M)
Paris Saint Germain (PSG)
The Parisian club has been in the news for the last few months for their crazy transfers with the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma 6M, Sergio Ramos 6M, Giorginio Wijnaldum 7M, Achraf Hakimi 6.5M, Nuno Mendes 4.5M, and last but not the least, Lionel Messi 11M joining PSG in the summer transfer window. With all these marquee signings, it looks like PSG is trying to become the new Galacticos of European Football.
Looking at PSG’s numbers from last season’s Champions League, they are a club that focuses more on the attacking front rather than defense, they had an xG of 12.4 in the group stages with having scored 13 goals overall along with only two clean sheets and an xGA (expected goals allowed) of 7.4 which means they will concede from time to time. Pochettino will be looking to exact revenge when they meet Man City in MD 2.
PSG start their UCL campaign away at Club Brugge whom they love facing, PSG won 5-0 away last time they played Club Brugge in 2019 when Kylian Mbappe bagged a hattrick.
Top UCL Fantasy Assets to own from PSG
- Kylian Mbappe (Forward 10.5M)
- Achraf Hakimi (Defender 6.5M)
- Lionel Messi (Forward 11M)
RB Leipzig
This will be Leipzig’s 3rd consecutive and 4th overall appearance in the UEFA Champions League with their best performance being the semi-finals that of the 19/20 season. With the likes of Man City and PSG being in the same group as Leipzig, it will take a Herculean effort to even make the Knock-out rounds this year. However, I don’t want to completely rule them out as it was just last season that they managed to beat Man Utd at home and reach the round of 16 stages.
In last season’s Champions League, even though Leipzig had an xG of 7,9 they ended up scoring 11 goals, and with the summer transfer of Andre Silva 9M and the reemergence of Dominik Szoboszlai 7M, they could match that number again. The problem though is in defense where they had an xGA of 7.8 last year but ended up conceding 12 goals just in the group stages and with the departures of Konate 5M & Upamecano 5.5M, things don’t look too good for Leipzig in the defensive department.
Top UCL Fantasy Assets to own from RB Leipzig
- Dominik Szoboszlai (Midfielder 7M)
- Emil Forsberg (Midfielder 7M)
- Angelino (Defender 5.5M)
Club Brugge
Last but not least, we look at Club Brugge who will not be relishing the fact that in a few weeks’ time, they will have to face the probable front three of Messi-Neymar-Mbappe in their first Champions League group stage match. I have always been a fan of an underdog team but chances of Club Brugge qualifying from group A are almost close to zero, their recent league form is also nothing to boast about as they lost 1-6 to Gent in their last Belgian Pro league game right before the international break.
Top Fantasy Assets to own from Club Brugge (if you are getting any)
- Charles De Ketelaere (Midfielder 6M)
- Hans Vanaken (Midfielder 7M)
- Ruud Vormer (Midfielder 6M)
Now that we have gone through all the teams in Group A, here is my prediction for this group. Let’s get right into it then:
UCL FANTASY GROUP A PREDICTIONS :
- Manchester City
- PSG
- RB Leipzig
- Club Brugge
Now, swiftly turning our attention to arguably the group of death in this year’s Champions League: Group B
GROUP B : Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Liverpool, FC Porto
UCL Fantasy Group B preview
First things first, as my profile name would suggest I have been a huge AC Milan fan for over 17 years now. So I’ll try my best not to be biased towards “The Rossoneri”, According to me, this is the “Group Of Death” in this year’s tournament, some would argue things aren’t as complicated as they would think because Atletico & Liverpool will eventually come good and take the 1-2 spots but like every other thing in Football, nothing is as predictable as you think and don’t count both Porto and Milan out just yet.
Atletico Madrid
Talking about Atletico, I have always been a fan of Atleti & Diego Simione and how he sets up for each game. The current La Liga champions had a very un-Atletico kind of Champions League with 3 draws and a heavy 4-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in MD 1 last season. They conceded an xGA of 6.9 which means more than a goal a game which is very unlike Atletico. Bayern scoring 4 past didn’t help but overall last year they looked like a team that could concede a goal anytime.
In La Liga, Atletico has started well with 2 wins and a draw in their first 3 games. Angel Correa 7M especially has been in good form notching up 3xG & 1xA so far. In defense, Atletico generally has been a good source of fantasy points over the years. Stefan Savic 4.5 M garnered up 55 ball recoveries last season which amassed him 17 extra fantasy points. Atletico plays FC Porto in their first game in the Champions League at home and they will fancy their chances against them.
Top UCL Fantasy Assets to own from Atletico Madrid
- Angel Correa (Midfielder 7M)
- Stefan Savic (Defender 4.5M)
- Marcos Llorente (Midfielder 6M)
Liverpool
The 6 time UEFA Champions League winners will be looking to do well in a group where each point may count for a lot at the end of the group stages. In last season’s Champions League, Liverpool was very dominant in the group stages scoring 10 goals with an xG of 9.7 and keeping 4 clean sheets in 6 games. Overall, similar to FPL, Liverpool’s midfield with the likes of Salah 10.5M & Mane 10M and in defense the combination of Trent Alexander-Arnold 6.5M & Andy Robertson 6.5M are always good picks given their likeliness to keep clean sheets and getting goals and assists.
Liverpool will be boosted with the return of their centre-back Virgil Van Dijk 6M who has been an instrumental figure in them playing from the back. One thing to follow here is the fitness of Roberto Firmino 8M if he’s declared to be out for a few weeks/months, Diogo Jota 8M can easily be a cheaper attacking option in that Liverpool side. Jota had 5 goal contributions in 6 games in last season’s Champions league only behind Mo Salah’s 6 goals & 1 assist.
Liverpool plays MD 1 at home against their old nemesis of early-mid 2000’s AC Milan which can be a dodgy affair but the good thing is Liverpool will be up against Porto in the following MD, so I wouldn’t be against anyone who wants to go with Liverpool assets from the start.
Top UCL Fantasy Assets to own from Liverpool
- Mohammed Salah (Midfielder 10.5M)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Defender 6.5M)
- Diogo Jota (Forward 8M)
AC Milan
The 7-time Champions League winners are back at the big stage after a 7-year hiatus (**giggles**). There used to be a time when teams used to fear playing Milan, especially in the Champions League. Long gone are those days but the team under the new management of Stefano Pioli and watchful eyes of one of the greatest defenders of all time “Paolo Maldini” as sporting director finished 2nd in Serie A last season.
Since we don’t have any stats from Milan in the Champions League last season, I looked at the Europa League group stages where Milan scored 12 goals in 6 games with an xG of 7,5 which can suggest that they overperformed on their xG. In the league, AC Milan won a record 16 away games last season conceding 41 goals in 38 league games. With the new addition of ex-Chelsea players like Oliver Giroud 7M and Fikayo Tomori, 5M will only make the team better in my opinion. Theo Hernandez at 5.5 M can be a great fantasy option given the fact that he had 12 goals/assists in 33 games in Serie A last season.
In their first back in the Champions League, Milan plays a tough away game at Anfield vs a strong Liverpool side which can turn out to be a very open encounter given the attacking nature of both teams. Milan can be a good source of points later on a Limitless or WC in MD 3-4 where they will play back-to-back games against FC Porto, the weakest team in this group.
Top UCL Fantasy Assets to own from AC Milan
- Theo Hernandez (Defender 5.5M)
- Oliver Giroud (Forward 7M) / Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Forward 8M)
- Brahim Diaz (Midfielder 6M)
FC Porto
Finally, let’s talk about Porto who had a wonderful run in the Champions League last season which ended in the quarterfinals where they lost to the eventual champion, Chelsea. On their way, they beat Juventus in R16 as well. In the group stages, Porto managed to win 4 out of 6 games scoring 10 goals (xG 7), and even kept 5 clean sheets which was an amazing effort. Do I see that happening this season though? I don’t think so.
Porto start their campaign away at Atletico and to be very honest they don’t have what we call an “easy fixture” to target but given what happened last season, we can expect 1 or 2 surprises from them in the group stages, midfielder Sergio Oliveira at 8M had 5 goals (3 penalties) in last year’s UCL. Moreover, this season striker Toni Martinez 6.5M has started well in the league with 3 goals in 4 games so far.
Top UCL Fantasy Assets to own from FC Porto
- Sergio Oliveira (Midfielder 8M)
- Zaidu (Defender 4.5M)
- Toni Martinez (Forward 6.5M)
UCL Fantasy GROUP B Predictions :
- Liverpool
- AC Milan
- Atletico Madrid
- FC Porto
That’s it for this blog, if you want to follow me and my work, do drop a follow on Twitter @FplRossoneri
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Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of UCL Fantasy MD1:
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FPL Rossoneri (Nick)
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