Matchday 4 of UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy got underway on Tuesday but managers still have the opportunity to make changes to their teams and improve their fortunes, be it via the captaincy or by bringing in a substitute or two.
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There are eight more games this evening, so it’s time to take a look at what we learned from last night’s fixtures – including excellent wins for Liverpool and Manchester City – and what to expect from tonight’s matches.
You can read our suggestions for Wednesday captaincy, differentials and teams to target/avoid in our first UCL Fantasy piece of the week.
Five things we learned last night
Bayern under Nagelsmann are truly an unstoppable force going forwards
Known for their defensive solidity, Jorge Jesus’s Benfica have only conceded four goals or more in a game on the three occasions since the start of 2020. One of those matches was a ding-dong 4-3 league loss to Santa Clara in June 2020. The other two were last night and two weeks ago – both against Bayern Munich. The German giants have now scored 23 goals in their last five Champions League and Bundesliga fixtures, with Robert Lewandowski finding the net on nine occasions. He’s also got eight in his four Champions League ties this season. Nagelsmann also has Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Thomas Müller firing on all cylinders. This is going to be a very hard side to stop.
Florian Kohfeldt may be the right man for VfL Wolfsburg
Two victories from his first two games is impressive work from Florian Kohfeldt, especially when Wolfsburg were winless in eight matches before he was appointed. Beating RB Salzburg is a far more impressive achievement than it may first seem: this was their first loss of the season (21 fixtures) in all competitions. Wolfsburg made Karim Adeyemi look anonymous and showed hints of getting the best out of Ridle Baku, which will be key to the Wolves’ prospects this season and may make him a key Fantasy asset moving forwards.
Cristiano Ronaldo bails out United yet again
As was to be expected, nothing has changed at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United. They still can’t defend and rely almost entirely on moments of brilliance from world-class players to score their goals, rather than any real tactical plan. They’re now perched precariously on top of their group, and should have enough to get past a Villarreal side in terrible domestic form and a Young Boys side who just don’t have that much to offer. However brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo is, they still look like they’ll fall over helplessly at the first sign of a real challenge and it’s hard to see that changing while Solskjaer is still in charge.
Sevilla continue to disappoint on Europe’s biggest stage
Despite currently sitting third in La Liga, Sevilla are still winless in this season’s Champions League. Their defensive resilience, which is fundamental to their identity, doesn’t seem to travel well across Europe. They should’ve lost their first game to RB Salzburg comfortably and have failed to beat a Lille side, currently 12th in Ligue 1, either home or away. This is a squad brimming with quality, but it simply can’t perform in Europe. Naturally, the moment we take their players out of our UCL Fantasy sides, they’ll start playing like Galaticos-era Real Madrid…
Villarreal and Juventus show that European and domestic form are two very different things
Juventus came into last night’s match without a win in three league games, having lost to Hellas Verona and Sassuolo in their last two. Villarreal came into this fixture without a win in their last four league games. Juventus are ninth in Serie A and Villarreal are 13th in La Liga. However, last night they both swept aside their respective opponents and are first and second in their Champions League groups. This presents a big problem for us as Fantasy Football managers. When are teams going to buck their domestic trends on the European stage and when are bad teams at home also bad teams in Europe (see Malmo)? When you look at the firepower that both of these sides have on the pitch and in the dugout, you have to wonder whether all it is is a matter of these players and managers caring more about the UCL.
Five things to expect tonight
RBL to shock PSG?
Whilst their domestic results might not show it, RB Leipzig are slowly improving under Jesse Marsch. They should’ve swept aside Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend, but somehow failed to score more than one goal and conceded at the death. PSG have looked disjointed of late and something doesn’t seem to be quite clicking under Mauricio Pochettino. Leipzig have been much better at home than on the road this season and looked at points like they might take the win in the reverse fixture on Matchday 3. If they can tighten up just ever so slightly at the back, this could be a bad night for PSG.
Manchester City to get back to winning ways?
Pep Guardiola and City will quickly be looking to put their losses to West Ham and Crystal Palace behind them by making an example of Club Brugge tonight, as they did in the reverse fixture. Their 5-1 win on Matchday 3 was mightily impressive and it’s hard to see anything but a similar scoreline this time around. Riyad Mahrez seems to be designated as Pep Guardiola’s main man in the Champions League, with three goals in as many matches, and should star again this evening.
Sporting Lisbon to leapfrog Borussia Dortmund in Group C?
Sporting Lisbon finally have their squad back to full fitness and, given their performance in the reverse tie against Besiktas, should sweep aside the Turks on Matchday 4. Pedro Goncalves, Pedro Porro, Pablo Sarabia and Paulinho are all great options for this tie and should star against the leaky Besiktas backline. Borussia Dortmund are still missing Erling Haaland and, whilst it would seem surprising for Ajax to dominate them quite so clearly a second time, it’s hard to see them overcoming a side who have kept seven clean sheets in their last eight games. Dortmund then visit Lisbon on Matchday 5, in what could be a crucial fixture for qualification from Group C.
Mohamed Salah to still be Mohamed Salah
This one doesn’t need much explaining. Despite Atletico’s defensive reputation under Diego Simeone, Mohamed Salah dismantled Atleti in the reverse fixture and has shown no signs of slowing down his world-beating form. He already has five goals from his three Champions League games this season and ten goals and six assists in ten Premier League matches. With Atletico now coming to Anfield, Salah could feast yet again.
Real Madrid to continue good form and sweep aside Shakhtar
Carlo Ancelotti is slowly starting to get the best out of this still-star-studded Real Madrid side. Karim Benzema may have only got one goal in his last four league games but Vinicius Junior has taken over that goalscoring burden, as shown by his brace on Matchday 3. Rodrygo is also starting to come into his own. David Alaba’s El Clasico goal showed what he’s still capable of, and there are great Fantasy options across the pitch for Real.
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