FANTASY FOCUS
Play Champions League fantasy
The new season of the Champions League is here, and with it comes a brand new fantasy game.
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Steven Gerrard: Back in action?
In previous seasons our Champions League game has been split in two, meaning separate competitions for the group stage and the knockout rounds. This season you will have to battle until the bitter end and manage your transfers accordingly.
As with the Premier League game, you start with a budget of £100m to buy a squad of 15 players. But with just six gameweeks in the group stage what will be the best tactic for success?
It will not be possible to submit separate squads for the Tuesday and the Wednesday, as each set of 16 matches will constitute a gameweek. So perhaps the best tactic will be to dead bench and save your budget for a star-studded starting line-up? Spreading the wealth and playing the fixtures may not be so attractive which such a small batch of gameweeks.
It's no surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo is the most expensive player in the game. But can those who have been missing out on his goalscoring prowess in the Premier League afford him in the Champions League at £12.5m? Fellow midfielders Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Kaka, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben all come at top dollar too.
Leading the price tags for strikers is Liverpool's Fernando Torres, costing £11.5m, while Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney carry an £11m fee.
At the back there's a whole host of players for £7m, representing the English clubs as well as Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan. Peter Cech and Pepe Reina are the most expensive goalkeepers at the same price.
The temptation is to bring in as many players as possible from the big clubs with favourable draws, but there's a downside.
Looking at the groups, it seems sensible to target players from Manchester United, Liverpool, Sevilla and Arsenal. However, if these groups really are going to be a walk in the park you could end up with "dead" players come gameweek four. Once a team qualifies for the knockout stages they almost always blood the youngsters and the reserves, which means your big money signings could be earning zero points.
That said, a series of good wins, maybe with clean sheets, could put you in a favourable position. Can you afford to carry some players through two rounds?
With 12 transfers to take you through the group stage, a generous offering, there is the scope to make changes should players be rested for European competition. And it's also worth remembering that you cannot carry over transfers into the next phase so it's a case of use them, or lose them.
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Yoann Gourcuff: Bargain buy?
It's no good bringing too many players in who will not qualify for the next stage though, as that will force you to eat into your allocation for the Round of 16. There will be benefits for bringing in the likes of Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff and Wolfsburg's Grafite - both players available at competitive prices - but there is every chance the Europa League may beckon come February.
The best policy is to have a mix of star names and also more affordable players who many will not select. Picking out these players is obviously easier said than doing. Looking back to the squad of the group stage from last season, while Steven Gerrard may have top scored with 43 points - and that's despite only playing in five games - second in the table was Jadson of Shakhtar Donetsk with 38. There is bound to be another Jadson in there somewhere.
Michael Rensing of Bayern Munich was the top goalkeeper, while other unexpected names in the squad of the stage were Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon), Josu Sarriegi (Panathinaikos), Matteo Brighi (AS Roma) and Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk).
The change to the structure of the fantasy game this season means there has been tweaks to the rules. As with the Premier League game there is currently a limit of three players from any one team. This will gradually lift as we go through the competition to four players for the Round of 16, up to five, six and finally eight for the final. This will make sure you can, if you wanted, always have a full squad of active players.
And to do that you'll need transfers. Once you get into the knockout rounds you become awash with transfers meaning there is plenty of opportunity to shed those "dead" players. But another reminder - they do not carry over through the rounds.
After the initial set of eight transfers for the group stage, there will be a new allocation of eight for each knockout round.
Every team's budget will also be increased throughout the competition, as clearly if the bigger teams all progress it will become impossible to pick a squad. How much the budget increases by will be determined after each round and will depend on which teams advance. This time, though, the player values will not fluctuate do to the small number of rounds in the Champions League game.
The key to Champions League success is knowing your players from Europe's lesser-known teams and moulding them with the traditional big hitters. It's no easy task.
