Hello fantasy managers,
UEFA UCL fantasy is one of the popular fantasy games in the world. Patience and analysis is the key to success like any other fantasy competitions. As the competition is consisted of 32 teams, it is really challenging for the fantasy managers to analyze that many teams.

In this article, a brief idea about the UEFA UCL fantasy is presented for newcomers in this fantasy football.
Building your team:
After logging in to the website (https://gaming.uefa.com/en/uclfantasy/), one need to select a squad of 15 members with allocated initial budget of 100m euro. Squad should consist of 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards. You can select team name and change it later too. There is a limit on how many players you can select from one club depending on the stage of the competition.

You can create a team at any point during the competition. If you create a team between matchdays, you’ll start scoring points from the following matchday. If you create a team during a matchday, you’ll start scoring points from the next day within that matchday.

What is Matchday:
UEFA UCL fantasy works in matchdays. There are 13 matchdays in total, corresponding to the six rounds of games in the group stage, plus two legs of the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, before the final.
Every matchday except the final is split over more than one day – usually Tuesday and Wednesday within the same week.   For each matchday, once the first day’s games have finished, you can make changes within your squad such as substitutions or changing captain. This means that if any of your starting players doesn’t score as many points as you would have liked, you can sub them off for a player on your bench who might score you more points later in the matchday.

Managing the squad:
For each matchday throughout the competition, you’ll need to select 11 starting players from your 15-player squad. For every matchday except Matchday 13 (the final), you’ll be able to sub players in and out depending on their performances – with the aim of ending the matchday with the highest-scoring 11 players from your squad in your XI. You’ll need to save your team before each matchday deadline, which is the kick-off time of the first game within the matchday.

Formations:
You can choose any formation for your team, as long as you’ve picked one goalkeeper, at least three defenders, at least two midfielders and at least one forward.

Captain Selection:
Every time you save your team, you’ll need to pick a captain from your starting XI. That player’s points will be doubled for that matchday.
If your captain plays on the first day within a matchday and doesn’t score as highly as you’d like, you will have the option to switch to another player whose club are playing on a later day within that matchday. This gives you the chance to double the score of a different player you think will do better. However, bear in mind that if you aren’t happy with your new captain’s score, you won’t be able to change back.
Popular and smart way of captain selection is– select a captain from a team that’s playing on the first day of a matchday. That way, if he doesn’t score as many points as you would have liked, you can switch captain to one of your players who is playing later in the matchday.

Substitutions:
After all matches on a single day have finished and before the next matches within that matchday kick off, you can sub out a maximum of four players and change your captain. Any players that you sub out will score zero points for that matchday.
As you can make subs mid-matchday, try picking a squad with a balance of players in action over the two (or more) days. That way, if your initial players don’t perform, you can sub them out for players you think will have a better chance of getting you more points.

Transfers:
Transferring players in and out of your squad with proper plan helps you get more points throughout the season. Throughout the competition, you get free transfers each matchday, where no points will be deducted from your score. The number of free transfers you can make depends on the stage of the competition. For every transfer you make beyond your quota of free transfers, you’ll have four points deducted from your total. If you don’t use your free transfers between matchdays, you’ll only be able to carry one forward to the next matchday.

Chips:
Chips give you the opportunity to change your squad and score more points. Managers get two chips, which can be played once each throughout the competition. Chips can be played on any matchday except 1 and 7 (round of 16 1st leg). The two chips are Wildcard and Limitless.
The Wildcard gives you the chance to change your squad for upcoming matchdays. In wildcard, a manager can make unlimited transfers with limited budget.
In limitless, you can make unlimited transfers with unlimited budget. However, your squad will reset to previous once the matchday is over. Limitless gives you the chance to pick your dream squad for one matchday only.

Scoring points:
Throughout the season, your players will score points based on their real-life performances. Some actions are rewarded the same amount of points regardless of the player’s position, others vary depending on where each player plays. For details about scoring points, please check the website (rules section).

** The UEFA UCL competition of season 2021-22 will start on 14th September.

By Ferdous Azad Sovon

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