The UEFA Champions League (UCL) may be getting a divisive revamp this season but the official Fantasy game is the same old format we know and love.

And it’s now live for the 2024/25 season!

You can dive in right now to start your team tinkering, as unlimited transfers are allowed before play starts.

SIGN UP TO PLAY UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FANTASY HERE

There will be as-yet-unannounced prizes on offer in this free-to-play Fantasy game. In the past, these have ranged from UEFA Champions League final tickets to Playstation 5s and replica shirts.

We’ll be bringing you a lot more content on this game throughout the season, with regular articles ahead of each Matchday.

There is also lots more UCL Fantasy content over on our sister website, Fantasy Football Community.

In this introductory piece, we’ll talk you through the basics of the game.

BRIEF RULES

To quickly summarise the game: UCL Fantasy managers get €100m to spend on a squad of 15 players. They earn points based on how they perform in the Champions League.

Anyone who has played Fantasy Premier League (FPL) will have no trouble picking the game up, as many of the rules are exactly the same or very similar:

• An initial budget of €100m (which rises to €105m from the round of 16)
• Pick a squad of 15 players – two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders, three forwards
• Select a starting XI in a valid formation for every Matchday
• Select a captain who earns double points
• Make free transfers between matchdays

Those are the fundamentals but there are one or two quirks of the game that require a bit of explaining, which we will cover below.

DIFFERENCES TO FPL

NUMBER OF PLAYERS PER CLUB

Initially, the maximum number of players you can own per club is the same as FPL: three. However, this increases as the tournament progresses:

Stage	Max. players per club
League phase	3
Knockout round play-offs	4
Round of 16	4
Quarter-finals	5
Semi-finals	6
Final	8

MANUAL SUBSTITUTIONS

Firstly, as well as autosubs that replace non-playing names of your starting XI, UCL Fantasy also allows manual substitutions within a Matchday.

Between the end of one night (eg Tuesday) and the start of another (eg Wednesday) within that Matchday, a maximum of four players can be switched for ones on your bench who have yet to play.

For example, if Ollie Watkins (€7.5m) disappoints on the Tuesday of Matchday 1, you can replace him with a substitute who’ll play on Wednesday or Thursday.

The only instance in which you can’t sub a player off is if he’s received a red card.

CAPTAINCY SWITCHING

Similarly, a poor choice of captain can easily be corrected by changing it to someone from the second (or third!) night. This new captain will be the only one whose points get doubled.

TRANSFERS AND CHIPS

Unlike in FPL, each Matchday deadline goes right up until the first kick-off of night one. It allows managers to wait until team news before using their free transfers.

During the group stage, each manager gets two of them, plus a maximum of one that’s rolled over from before. However, additional ones cost four points.

Matchday	Number of free transfers
Before league phase	Unlimited
During league phase	2 per matchday
Before knockout round play-offs	Unlimited
Before knockout round play-offs second leg	2
Before round of 16	Unlimited
Before round of 16 second leg	3
Before quarter-finals	5
Before quarter-finals second leg	3
Before semi-finals	5
Before semi-finals second leg	3
Before final	5

CHIPS

Furthermore, there is a pair of chips that can be used once:

• Wildcard: This is just like in FPL – a chance to change the whole squad for free.
• Limitless: Like the Free Hit chip but with an unlimited budget.

SCORING SYSTEM

Instead of bonus points, UCL Fantasy awards three to ‘Player of the Match’.

As well as the standard points for goals, assists, clean sheets, cards and appearances, there is an extra one given to goals from outside the box and whenever a player makes three ball recoveries:

BY POSITION

	GK	DEF	MID	FOR
Scoring a goal	6 pts	6 pts	5 pts	4 pts
Clean sheet (played 60+ mins)	4 pts	4 pts	1 pt
Every two goals conceded	-1 pt	-1 pt
Saving a penalty	5 pts
Every three saves	1 pt

ALL PLAYERS

Appearance	1 pt	Goal from outside the box	1 pt	Every three ball recoveries	1 pt
Reach 60 minutes	1 pt	Assist	3 pts	Yellow card	-1 pt
Player of the Match	3 pts	Winning a penalty	2 pts	Red card	-3 pts
		Missing a penalty	-2 pts	Own goal	-2 pts
		Conceding a penalty	-1 pt

SIGN UP TO PLAY UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FANTASY HERE

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