In this article, we will look at the best defenders to pick for your Fantasy Champions League team in MD5
This article is part of the series: UCL Fantasy Matchday 5: Tips, Best Picks & Captain
We look at each price bracket: budget defenders, mid-priced picks, and premium options.
Budget defenders for UCL Fantasy Matchday 5 (4m – 4.5m)
Raoul Bellanova (4.2m, Atalanta) – 3.5/10
- Atalanta very solid defensively this season, 4 clean sheets in 4 games
- budget enabler, MD5 & MD7 fixture has clean sheet potential again
Boscagli (4.5m, PSV) – 5.5/10
- balls recovered magnet
- good fixtures for PSV in MD5-MD7
Cubarsi (4.5m, Barcelona) – 7/10
- cheap route into Barcelona defence
- started all 4 games in La Liga this season, although was subbed out early (60 min) on 2 occasions
- He should be nailed, but do not be surprised if you see him rested in some fixtures
- Barcelona is 2nd for clean sheet odds in Matchday 2
Carter Vickers (4.5m, Celtic) – 3.5/10
- Celtic with playable fixtures during whole League phase
- Solid at balls recovered, last season with 6.75 balls recovered per game in last season
- Alistair Johnston (4.5m) could also be a good pick among Celtic defenders, he already has 4G + 3A this season
Alexsandro (4.6m, Lille) – 5.5/10
- Lille with nice fixtures in MD5, MD6 and MD8
- second for balls recovered among all players, offer stable points output
- differentials with 0% owned
Singo (4.6m, Monaco) – 4.5/10
- mix of fixtures for Monaco, but Singo should not be overlooked due to his balls recovered potential, as he recovered 31 balls in 3 games (10.33 on average)
Pacho (4.5m, PSG) – 7/10
- a cheap route into PSG defence
- he is top for balls recovered among all players – 10.25 balls recovered per games on average, that is extra 3 points on average in every game
Rico Lewis (4.8m, Manchester City) – 5/10
- a cheap route into Man. City defence, started all 4 games in Champions League this season
Mid-priced defenders for UCL Fantasy (5m)
Jose Maria Gimenez (5m, Atletico) – 4/10
- back from suspension
- Atletico with nice fixture run in MD5 – MD8 there could be a few clean sheets
- recovered 25 balls in MD1-3, that is 8.33 balls recovered per game on average
Mittelstadt (5m, Stuttgard) – 6/10
- EURO Fantasy managers know him well
- next 3 fixtures have clean sheet potential
- offer attacking threat, 3 assists in Bundesliga this season
Kim Min Jae (5m, Bayern) – 7.5/10
- very good at balls recovered, in the last season he was averaging almost 8 balls recovered per game
- 7.5 balls recovered per game this season
- our go-to Bayern defender
Schlotterbeck (5.0m, Dortmund) – 6.5/10
- Dortmund with good fixtures during the whole league phase
- good at balls recovered (but not as good as last season’s hero Hummels)
- in the last UCL season, he was averaging 6.83 balls recovered per game, this season it is just 4.5 per game
Otamendi (5.0m, Benfica) – 5/10
- could be a good source of points for balls recovered
- last season 8.33 balls recovered per game, but this season just 5.5
- unfortunately, he is getting too many yellow cards which decreases his potential
- next 2 fixtures are good for Benfica
Premium defenders for UCL Fantasy (5.5m – 6m)
Gabriel (5.5m, Arsenal) – 9/10
- Arsenal very good defensively, most clean sheets in Premier League last season
- Gabriel offer higher goal threat than Saliba, he is averaging 4G/season in Premier League in last 3 seasons
- solid at balls recovered this season with 7 balls recovered per game on average so far
Frimpong / Grimaldo (5.5m, Leverkusen) – 9.5/10
- Leverkusen’s wingbacks coulb be amazing source of points thanks ot their attacking threat
- Grimaldo with 2G + 3A this season for Leverkusen (cup games + Bundesliga) and 10G + 13A in Bundesliga last season
- Frimpong with 1G + 5A this season (all competitions) and 9G + 7A last season, but injury doubt for MD5
- great fixture in MD5 for Leverkusen
Theo Hernandez (5.5m, AC Milan) – 7.5/10
- 5G + 4A in last season in Seria A, 2G + 2A this season
- he can produce points for attacking returns, and now 4 good fixtures for AC Milan up to end of the League phase
Hakimi (5.5m, PSG) – 5.5/10
- 4G + 5A in the last season in Ligue 1
- short term pick only for MD1
- he can produce points for attacking returns, but tough fixtures for PSG where we do not see many clean sheets
Gvardiol (5.5m, Man. City) – 7.5/10
- offers an attacking threat, but hard to predict which Man. City defender is going to start most of the matches in the Champions League
Kounde (5.5m, Barcelona) – 7.5/10
- 3 assists in MD4
- should not be overlooked
- now when Yamal is injured, your Barca trio could be Lewandowski + Raphinha + Kounde
Rudiger (6m, Real Madrid) – 7/10
- our pick among Real Madrid defenders
- was very good at balls recovered during the World Cup for Germany
- after Liverpool, good fixtures
Van Dijk (6m, Liverpool) – 6.5/10
- attacking threat after set pieces
- we expect more stable points output from VVD than from TAA, due to VVD’s ability to collect points for balls recovered
- Liverpool with the most clean sheets in Premier League this season
Picking the best defenders in UCL Fantasy 2024/25
When selecting a defender for your UCL Fantasy team you consider:
- Whether a defender that you pick has a good chance of a clean sheet. Our Champions League Clean Sheet Odds will help you with that. This is the most important criterion you should consider, as clean sheets are the most important source of fantasy points for defenders.
- Whether a defender has attacking potential: Can he score goals after free kicks and corners? Does he play in an advanced position so he could register a few assists?
- Balls recovered potential. Centre-backs usually recover more balls than full-backs which makes them more appealing from this point of view. You can check, which players are best at bells recovered in our article: Best players at balls recovered.
If you find a defender that offers all three above, you find gold and should pick him into your team. However, that is rare. So make sure that the defenders you pick satisfy at least 2 of those 3 criteria.
