With just a day to go until the start of the 2017-18 Champions League campaign, it’s time to share my personal XI for the Goal Fantasy game .
Cristiano Ronaldo was absolutely brilliant last year, scoring 15 goals in 13 matches, and eaving him out was obviously a very tough call but when it came down to him or Messi, form and fixtures dictated selecting the Argentinian.
As for wingbacks, it seems the long-standing debate between owning them and centre backs has been settled. In three of the top five European leagues, at least one wide defender sits in the top five of either goals or assists. Many players tend to cheap out in defence to fit more attacking players into their side but that doesn’t look wise based on current trends.
GK: Manuel Neuer - Bayern Munich, £6.4m, owned in 11.98% of teams
The German ‘keeper missed the majority of last season with a metatarsal fracture but looks a good bet for clean sheets as he has the most favourable group of the elite goalkeepers (Benfica, Ajax, AEK).
DEF: Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich, £6.5m, owned in 22.5% of teams
Kimmich was incredible in the Champions League last season finishing in the top five in chances created and accurate crosses, which is impressive for anyone let alone a defender.
DEF: Marcelo - Real Madrid, £6.4m, owned in 21.73% of teams
The Madrid man had more assists than any other defender in this tournament last season (four) and, despite their most difficult fixture being first, Marcelo should be a set and forget player through the group stages.
DEF: Alex Telles - Porto, £5.7m, owned in 3.37% of teams
He had the third most accurate crosses in the Champions League last season and Porto should have a decent shot at picking up multiple clean sheets considering their group of Schalke, Galatasaray and Lokomotiv Moscow.
MID: Mohamed Salah - Liverpool, £7.7m, owned in 37.58% of teams
Only Ronaldo had more goals and expected combined goals (xG+xA) than Salah in this competition last season and, while Liverpool will face tougher competition in this phase than last year, it still seems unwise to bet against the Egyptian.
MID: Dries Mertens - Napoli, £7.3m, owned in 6.36% of teams
Mertens has not gotten off to the hottest start this season with just one goal to date, but the Belgian still offers great value as an out of position player seeing as he’s played three of the last five matches at centre-forward for Napoli.
MID: Dusan Tadic - Ajax, £6.4m, owned in 4.54% of teams
Tadic's move to Ajax has certainly gone well thus far with four goals in his first five matches back in the Eredivisie and, with any luck, he will keep that form going against AEK on Wednesday.
MID: Memphis Depay - Lyon, £6.7m, owned in 5.57% of teams
Depay had the same amount of goals (19) and assists (13) as Neymar in Ligue 1 last season, has been one of the leading creators in France in the early stages of 2018-19, and is well worth his 6.7m price in the Goal game .
FOR: Lionel Messi - Barcelona, £8.0, owned in 59.46% of teams
You probably don’t need to be convinced to own Messi, but in case you do he already leads all La Liga players in goals, assists, shots on target, and chances created.
FOR: Romelu Lukaku - Manchester United, owned in £7.7m, 5.27% of teams
The Belgian has scored six goals in his last five matches and will start off the European campaign against Young Boys, likely the weakest team in their group.
FOR: Fedor Chalov - CSKA Moscow, £6.1m, owned in .06% of teams
Chalov has had an incredible start to the season having already scored six goals, more than anyone else in the Russian Premier League, which makes him as good a candidate as any as a cheap differential play.
