Champions League 2015/16 Hints and Tips

Champions League 2015/16 Hints and Tips

They tried, they failed, they tried some more. And failed. After missing out on a whole gameweek the good folk at UCL HQ did manage to scrape together some sort of something for us to dig into in Gameweek two. In the process it has somehow come about that the non-user-friendly site is actually worse than before. Our team sheets are no longer accompanied by league information or fixtures and the transfer page is hilariously crap. You’d have to wonder just what goes through the heads of some people! Anyway, we had a big enough rant about the UCL inadequacies in the last article so we’ll hold fire this time.
GW2 went, for the most part at least, as expected with the elite teams doing their thing and Arsenal making a total balls of it as usual. The Gunners fell 3-2 at home to Olymiacos in the shock of the round, leaving Wenger to ponder the realization that 0 points from two games, with Bayern back-to-back, likely means an early exit from this season’s competition. It wasn’t just Arsenal who messed up though as BATE Borisov, earmarked as whipping boys by us the last time, pulled off a great result in beating Roma, albeit an injury ridden Roma. A third shock of the round came at Vicente Calderon, home of a dogged, Simeone lead Atletico Madrid with the home side giving up three points vs a Benfica team who really shouldn’t have posed much threat to a club that has recently won La Liga and reached the final of this very competition.
So, without further ado, lets have a look at where we can hopefully gain some big points in this round and also a few teams who we should avoid stocking up on, or even rid ourselves of their players totally..

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TARGET FIXTURES

Valencia CF vs KAA Gent
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[/three_fourth]Valencia have had an indifferent start to this campaign having lost their opener at home to FC Zenit followed by a steady away win against Lyon. This is replicated in league form too as they currently lie in 8th place in La Liga. This week, however, Belgian side KAA Gent arrive at the infamous Mestalla stadium in a game that the hosts are big favorites for. Gent, to be fair to them, did put up a good fight against Zenit last time out but with this week’s opposition being La Liga mainstays we have to favour them to do a job and scoop all three points. After all, this is Gent’s first venture into this tournament. As mentioned in the last edition of our UCL article, Valencia do tend to chop and change their lineup from game to game so make extra sure to view their team sheet. It makes picking their key players a bit tougher too but here we go..

Key Players: Jaume Domenech, Shkodran Mustafi, Sofiane Feghouli, Paco Alcacer / Alvaro Negredo (Valencia CF)

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FC Porto vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv

It doesn’t look good for Israeli team Maccabi in this weeks game. Beaten at home, 2-0, by Dynamo Kyiv in Gameweek two should say everything we need to know about them and their chances in this years UCL. If it doesn’t say it all then one look at the opposition should put the icing on the cake. Portuguese giants, Porto, who got one over on Chelsea in the last game, play hosts in this incredibly one sided fixture. FC Porto are seasoned UCL performers, without being a massive force and usually put it up to pretty much everyone they play until it comes to the knockout stages where it’s usually bye bye time. Still, during the group stages we can pull huge points from them when the opposition is weak, and that it is. Porto are a sound investment over the next two rounds and their talents aren’t high value either. One or two (maybe more!) of these should provide a solid basis for points..

Key Players: Iker Casillas, Maicon, Andre Andre, Vincent Aboubakar / Yacine Brahimi (FC Porto)

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FC BATE Borisov vs FC Barcelona
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[/three_fourth]Belarusian minnows, BATE, pulled off a remarkable upset in Gameweek two. Italian giants AS Roma rocked into town with an injury ravaged squad but still would have fancied a handy three points. BATE had different ideas though and did their bit and scooped the points. Can they do it again and pull off another great upset? Pffft, yeah right! This weeks opponents are a handy enough team and have experience at this level. They are none other than reigning European Champions, FC Barcelona. Messi or no Messi, the Catalan giants shouldn’t, and won’t, be bothered by BATE. In one of the more one sided affairs we’ll see this season we can expect anything from a 2-0 stroll in the park win, to an merciless battering. FCB pride themselves on being ruthless in front of goal which leads us to believe that this one could be over very quickly. It might even be over now!

Key Players: Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic, Neymar, Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona).

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GNK Dinamo Zagreb vs Olympiacos FC
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[/three_fourth]”The Arsenal Toppers”. That’s what this fixture should be dubbed. Dinamo’s opening game win over Arsenal came as a shock to everyone and must have given the Dinamo players a lot of confidence going into the Bayern game. Within minutes Bayern quashed any sort of anything and proceeded to hit them for five, despite taking the foot off the gas for large parts of the game. Greek perma-champs Olympiacos were the second team in as many rounds who refused to read the script and take their defeat like men, instead arriving at the Emirates and playing a blinder to scoop all three points. So, where does that leave us for this game? In a grey area. Olympiacos will certainly be the favourites in this fixture but maybe not as wide as previously expected. Still, favourites are favourites at the end of the day and we fully expect Olympiacos to get the result they need, even if it is a bit closer than it may seem.

Key Players: Arthur Masuaku, Pajtim Kasami, Ideye Brown (Olympiacos)

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Atletico Madrid vs FC Astana
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[/three_fourth]Newcomers FC Astana, of Kazakhstan, predictably find themselves bottom of Group C after two games with one point to show for themselves. Defeat to Benfica was followed by a 2-2 home draw with Galatasaray, a result that may say more about Gala than Astana but we’ll get to that in a minute. Just the four conceded in two is somewhat of a surprise considering they’ve been to Benfica but, it’s a step up in class this week, with a trip to the Calderon in Madrid in wait. Atletico sit fourth in La Liga after a decent start but they need to get back on track in UCL after the defeat last time out. Astana are just what the doctor ordered, with six points from the double-header looking like a formality. A few Atletico players should see us right for these games and, just to go back to the Gala situation briefly, they have looked really poor. Joint bottom of the group and level on GD with Astana is pretty awful, making them a target team themselves although maybe not as much as the minnows and newbies.

Key Players: Diego Godin, Juanfran, Koke, Antoinne Griezmann (Atletico Madrid). Julio Cesar, Eliseu, Luisao, Nicolas Gaitan, Kostas Mitroglu (SL Benfica).

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Malmo FF vs FC Shaktar Donetsk
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[/three_fourth]Malmo and Shaktar have been landed in what can only be described as a nightmare group. Essentially, they are both battling it out with each other for a Europa League spot while Real Madrid and PSG duke it out for first and second. Having played against Madrid and PSG in Gameweeks one and two, losing to both, Shaktar and Malmo go head-to-head for the first time and will do so again in Gameweek 4. These games basically decide both their fates and we fancy the mega bucks Ukrainians to come out on top. Shaktar have been a club littered with Brazilian players down the years, some of which are now plying their trade in the Premier League so they do usually have a decent team with the odd class player here and there. The current squad is no different, with plenty of foreign players involved but unfortunately it’s not quite as strong as it has been in previous seasons. Still, there’s enough there to see off Malmo you would think so we’re backing them to do the business.

Key Players: Darijo Srna, Yaroslav Rakitskiy, Alex Teixeira (Shaktar Donetsk)

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LESS FAVOURABLE

Arsenal vs FC Bayern Munich
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[/three_fourth]As previously mentioned, Arsenal have gotten off to a horrid start to this seasons campaign by losing both their games. Having to deal with a rampant Bayern team is not what they need right now but it’s what they’ve got. Certainly any Arsenal defenders that may be in your squad are prime for the chop this week, with plenty of cheaper options available, none of which play against Lewandowski! Bayern are such a well rounded team that it’s hard to see any good Arsenal picks and, considering what we have to aim for in other groups, limiting Bayern cover may just see us right too. Having Lewy in this form is fine against anyone but he does command a hefty of €12.5m, a sum that could be used for Neymar or Suarez who go up against BATE.

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PSG vs Real Madrid
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[/three_fourth]Another clash of the big boys, in Group A this time, sees French champs PSG take on the might of Real Madrid. Similar to Arsenal, home side PSG don’t really have much to offer in these games barring one or two forwards perhaps. Angel Di Maria is their stand out player in general and, in this fixture, maybe even more so than usual. Madrid let him go for no real apparent reason other than the nagging need to spend huge amounts of cash on other players, despite the Argentine being a crucial cog in their machine for a number of seasons. Is there still a bad taste there? Will Di Maria be extra motivated to give them a hiding? Maybe, and he might do. Still, outside of Di Maria there’s not much – Very expensive strikers, who aren’t 100% fixture proof. On the other side, we’ve got Ronaldo. Must have.

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Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs AS Roma
How does one go about predicting this fixture? The injury situation at Roma is actually one to look out for. We’ll see their lineup before deadline and if it’s seriously depleted again then a sneaky Leverkusen player might just work a treat as a differential. With both teams at full strength, it’s likely to be a tight game more often than not as both teams are at a similar level. Miralem Pjanic and Hakan Calhanoglu are two very good players but with values of €9m and €8.5m respectively, we can likely get better value elsewhere.

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CAPTAIN PICKS

Match Day 1 Primary Picks

Luis Suarez & Neymar
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[/three_fourth]Either of these two could go off in a big way vs BATE. Luis Suarez has been a revelation at Barcelona ever since he returned from his ban. The goals took a little while to come but the assists were always there, and they haven’t gone anywhere. Suarez can be trusted lead our teams for Match Day 1 as his consistency is excellent and he does have explosiveness too. Speaking of explosive, strike partner Neymar is the epitome of the word. Who ever thought we’d see a player who is legitimately good enough to rival Messi and Ronaldo in our lifetime, never mind at the same time? Scarily, that’s what we’ve got in Neymar. The kid is a glorious player, as evident from his four goal haul last weekend in La Liga. 14 UCL goals, including 10 on the way to winning it all last season, is a sign of things to come. Neymar may well be worth the extra €0.5m than his strike partner.

Match Day 1 Secondary Picks

Vincent Aboubakar & Yacine Brahimi
As mentioned a while back, FC Porto have a delightful pair of fixtures coming up in which they should score plenty of goals. Brahimi is showing as an injury doubt so we’ll need to keep an eye on that but if he doesn’t make it then Aboubakar could be a worthy option at just €7m.

Robert Lewandowski
It would be criminal to exclude Lewy from any Captain Pick section. Even more so given his current form. It’s probably well known but for those who are unaware of his current form, it reads like that of a firing Ronaldo or Messi. Lewy has appeared in Bayern colors twelve times so far this season, and has netted a staggering sixteen times. Outrageous stuff. He’s got six in his last five at International level too!

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Match Day 2 Primary Picks

Antoinne Griezmann & Koke
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[/three_fourth]The return of Koke is a massive boost for Atletico. A set piece specialist and general all round delight of a player, Koke is integral to all that is good about Atletico’s attacking prowess. Excellent in build up play as well as picking out killer passes, the Spanish midfielder also has a few goals in him too. But for Diego Simeone’s transformation of Altletico Koke might well be playing elsewhere by now as each summer the big clubs from around Europe come sniffing, but to no avail. Ahead of Koke for a captain pick though is French forward Antoinne Griezmann. Another very skillful player with an eye for goal, Griezmann will be lickings his lips at the sight of Astana visiting the Calderon, with a brace or more in mind. A combined €19m will get us both of these players and it may well be an investment, however steep, well worth taking.

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Match Day 2 Secondary Picks

Cristiano Ronaldo
What? Ronaldo not a first choice pick? He should be. Most weeks he will be, but, it’s a touch different in these next two as Madrid face a stern PSG team. Ronaldo has however come up against many stern teams in the past and pretty much blitzed them all but with weaker teams than PSG to attack, it may be best to take Ronaldo’s gameweek score as it is and hope to land on a monster from someone else. With a bit of luck our Match Day 1 captains will do well anyway, negating the need to switch to Cristiano.

Anthony Martial & Juan Mata
If you can find room for young Martial among all the strikers we have to choose from, then he may well turn out to be a great shout this week. United travel a long way, all the way to Russia, to take on PFC CSKA Moscow. A solid and dangerous team down the years, CSKA aren’t great shakes these days and should be easy enough for United to beat. Juan Mata has been in top form thus far himself and could also provide a hefty score. Set pieces are a big bonus with a Mata pick, especially with speedy players like Depay and Martial firing at the CSKA defence, drawing free kicks and maybe a penalty, if luck chooses to shine.

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FF247 League
We are running an official FF247 league in this seasons Champions League competition and all are welcome to join. The site link itself is UEFA Fantasy Champions League and our league code is 8010637.

For whatever reason (are we surprised) last season’s leagues have not automatically renewed so you do need to re-join as you won’t be entered as per you would with FPL.

The winner of our league will receive an exclusive FF247 t-shirt and a visit from Potty 😉

Thanks for reading Champions League 2015/16 Hints and Tips. This article was written by NIN