After a short break, Fantasy Champions League returns with the 1st round of Play Offs Matchday 9. There are just 8 games to be played, but there are still plenty of good UCL fantasy options to pick from.
Let’s look at our UCL Fantasy MD9 Tips for the 1st leg of play offs, where we discuss strategy, best picks, captain, odds, team selection and more.
1. UCL Fantasy Play Offs 1st Leg Tips & Strategy
a) Think short term. You have unlimited transfers now and will have again after play offs
Look at playoffs as a “two-matchday long” free hit team, as you will have unlimited transfers again after playoffs (before R16).
We always say: think long-term, but this does not apply to playoffs. It’s all about these two matchdays. So… think short term… It does not matter who will go through, no complicated calculations are needed. Just pick the best team, the best players from the best teams.
Prioritize good fixtures, however, good players will score points in tough fixtures too.
b) Pick goalkeepers who play on different days
Do not pick goalkeepers from the same day – that way you cannot use your substitutions for your goalkeeper if your first goalkeeper blanks.
c) Have two captaincy options one on each day
As always, to use your captaincy change effectively, have a captaincy option for each day.
d) Do not overlook midfielders good at balls recovered
The deeper we are in the tournament, the fewer options among good attacking players we have. So, you do not need to have 5 attacking midfielders in your team now. There are just a few really good midfield options that can deliver attacking returns regularly.
e) Have 8 players for Tuesday, 7 for Wednesday
To use subs effectively, it is good to have more players for Tuesday. However, for MD10 it reverses, so if you have 8 for Tuesday in MD9, you will have 7 for Tuesday in MD10. You will use your free transfers before MD10 to find that balance again.
f) Do not waste your wildcard in play offs + chip strategy
Given the unlimited transfers before MD9 and after MD10, it is better to save regular wildcard for later stages in the tournament (where you will have to deal with eliminated players.) and not for MD10.
However, MD10 could be an opportunity for limitless (if you still have it), as further we go in the tournament, fewer players we have, which means fewer opportunities for limitless. In MD9 the budget increases by 5m, which makes limitless less effective too.
Similarly, if you use limitless in elimination rounds (after R16), your team reverses back to pre-limitless team after limitless which could be an issue when getting rid of eliminated players.
2. Transfer Targets and key players to own in Matchday 8
Key players to own
- Kane – your MD9 backup captain
- Mbappe/Vinicius/Bellingham – Man. City are struggling defensively
- Hakimi, Pacho – PSG defensive coverage
- Barcola, Dembelle
- Kim – balls recovering hero
- Musiala, Olise – you need to exploit Bayern’s fixture but wait for lineups to see who is starting
Other players to consider
- Leao – good fixture, MOTM awards magnet
- Pavlidis – in super form since his hattrick against Barca
- Retegui – 4 goals during weekend
- Gyokeres
3. Fixtures to target in UCL Fantasy Matchday 9
Which fixtures you should target? We always use bookies’ odds to help us determine that. Let’s look at which teams have the highest chance of winning their match in the Matchday 9 and scoring a lot of goals in that game:
- Brest vs. PSG – PSG 75 % to win, 45 % to score more than 2.5 goals
- Celtic vs. Bayern – Bayern 70 % to win the match, 46 % to score more than 2.5 goals
- Juventus vs. PSV – PSV 50 % to win, 22 % to score more than 2.5 goals
- Man. City vs. Real Madrid – City 60 % to win, 31 % to score more than 2.5 goals
Find 2.5+ goals odds for all teams in our article: Champions League Over 2.5 Goals Odds.
4. Best captain for UCL Fantasy Play Offs 1st leg
Well, regarding the captain selection, it will not be as easy in UCL Fantasy Play Offs, as it was in the League phase.
For us, Dembele is the captaincy option to pick on Tuesday. However, if you want to try something different, Vinicius or Mbappe could also be great option given that City defence this season is not that rock solid as we were used to in previous season.
Our backup captain for Wednesday is Kane.
Captaincy thresholds
There are just a few matches in the Play Offs, so there is a smaller range of great captaincy options. That’s why our captaincy threshold is lower than in the group stage. For Matchday 9, our captaincy threshold is 6 points.
It means, that if our Tuesday captain scores 6 points or more, we will keep the amrband on him.
Substitution threshold
Our subs threshold is 4 points. Meaning that if your players scores 4 points or more, you will not sub him off after the first day.
Read more about our captaincy thresholds: UCL Fantasy Captaincy Thresholds: When to change captain?
5. Odds and Probabilities for Matchday 9
Clean Sheet Odds for Play Offs 1st Leg
As usual, we converted bookies’ clean sheet odds into clean sheet probabilities using our Odds to probability calculator.
PSG (46 %) and Bayern (45 %) have the highest probability of keeping a clean sheet in Matchday 9, so you might aim to get at least one defender from each of those teams.
You can see all Champions League Clean Sheet Odds here.
Goalscoring Odds for Play Offs s 1st Leg
You can find odds of scoring a goal here: Champions League Goalscoring Odds.
6. Scout Team for UCL Fantasy Play Offs
Let’s finish our preview for the 1st leg of UCL Fantasy with our play off team.
7. Fantasy Champions League Tips
Find more tips, strategies, and picks for UCL Fantasy in these articles:
- Beginner? Read our guide: How to play UCL Fantasy?
- Confused about the rules? Read the Official guidelines of the game
- Do you want to get better at UCL Fantasy? Read our article about Essential Tips for UCL Fantasy Success.
Good luck in UCL Fantasy Matchday 9 – Play Off 1st Leg.
Hi Matej, thanks for the post. What is the best substitution strategy for quarter finals? Anyone who has below 4 points or is it 3 points now?
Thanks
Sorry for the late reply, it is still 4 points. I still sub off players with 3 points or less.