Fantasy UCL MD-9: Rate My Team

Europe’s elite club competition – The UEFA Champions League is finally back. The return of the UCL is synonymous with the return of the much-awaited UCL Fantasy. With limited options available, it’s important to make the right decisions if we are to have any chance of getting a notable rank gain. Before looking at my plans for MD-9, here is how MD 8 went.

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MD-8 Review

MD-8 was a mixed bag. Although my 100 points is my highest score this season, the rank gain felt underwhelming as it was a high-scoring week in general. The combination of Leroy Sane and captain Robert Lewandowski, whose ownership is close to 100% among active managers carried my team this MD. Elsewhere, Danjuma scored a lucky late penalty to add 8 points to my total while Laporte and Ederson kept handy clean sheets. The rest of my team returned a string of 2’s barring Trent who managed to earn +5 points as a result of his 9 ball-recoveries

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MD-9 Transfer plan and chip strategy

With two outfield players eliminated and one dud keeper on the bench, this is how my team looks ahead of MD-9

I do have a wildcard in hand and this would be my ideal wildcard team.

As my team is fairly well set for MD-9 and can get to the above team using the five free transfers, saving the wildcard for MD-10 or MD-11 looks like the right move at the moment. If funds comply, I would maybe upgrade Phil Foden (€8.2m, Man City) to Kingsley Coman (€8.8m, Bayern Munich) and Gilberto (€4.9m, Benfica) to either Marcos Alonso (€5.4m, Chelsea FC) or Niklas Sule (€5.7m, Bayern). Since my team doesn’t have the budget for the aforementioned upgrades, I have to settle with the above team. My only differential picks at the moment are triple Manchester City defenders, €4.9m striker Goncalo Ramos, and Gilberto from Benfica. In summary, these are the moves I plan to make ahead of MD-9:

• Sebastian Haller (€9.5m, Ajax, FWD) -> Karim Benzema (€10.4, Real Madrid, FWD)
• Arnaut Danjuma (€7.2m, Villareal, MID) -> Phil Foden (€8.2m, Man City, MID)
• Marquinhos (€5.8m, PSG, DEF) -> Gilberto (€4.9m, Benfica, DEF)
• Andy Robertson (€6.4m, Liverpool, DEF) -> João Cancelo (€6.6m, Man City, DEF)
• Sven Ulerich (€4.5m, Bayern, GK) -> Mile Svilar (€4.0m, Benfica, GK)

Here is where I need your help. From the above transfers, I’m uncertain about 2 moves in particular, Danjuma -> Foden and Marquinhos -> Gilberto.

If I stick with Danjuma, not only do I save the extra million, I can also save a valuable free transfer which could be useful in the later stages. So, if I do stick with Danjuma, I have the luxury of bringing in another Chelsea defender like Antonio Rudiger (€6m, Chelsea) or Thiago Silva (€5.8m, Chelsea) who are much more likely to make it to the next round than Gilberto, who is not expected to get too many points against a strong Liverpool side. This is what my team would look like with Danjuma and Rudiger instead of Foden and Gilberto.

What would you do? Please help me out by answering the poll. What would be your moves if you were in my situation? Does my team warrant a wildcard? What would be your wildcraft draft? Have questions of your own? Please share them in the comments section.

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MATCHDAY 9 BUILD UP

MiQ has already posted a fantasy preview of MD-9, and he’ll post an update and Live chat article on Tuesday. Injuries and suspensions lists will be covered there, so be sure to check-in.

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NMA UCL Fantasy Mini-League

If you played our UCL mini-league last season, or if you played our Euros mini-league over the summer, you should automatically be entered into NMA’s 2021-22 mini-league as soon as you create a team. Head to gaming.uefa.com and get to work!

If you are new to us, then once you create a team you can join our mini-league manually with the following info. Come join us, we’d love to have you!

League: Never Manage Alone

Code: 71MQALVG07

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