<p>Do you want to know <strong>how to play UEFA Champions League Fantasy Football</strong>?</p>
<p><em><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-ultimate-guide/">Fantasy Premier League</a> and <a href="https://gaming.uefa.com/en/uclfantasy/create-team">UEFA Champions League Fantasy</a> are very similar in terms of gameplay, however if you haven’t played UCL Fantasy, there are some key differences to understand before selecting a team. In the first article of his new series, <a href="https://twitter.com/kwolf_ff">Kevin Wolf</a> (finished 21st overall last season) outlines the most important differences between the two games below:</em></p>
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<h2>Manual substitutions</h2>
<p>Manual substitutions are an important strategy to understand when selecting a UCL Fantasy team. Unlike FPL, where bench players can only be used to substitute players who don’t play, all bench players are available to use in the UCL game.</p>
<p>After the first matches in a single Matchday have finished and before the next matches start, managers can manually substitute players that have already played (and have not been sent off) and replace them with players on their bench. Any players that you sub out will score zero points for that Matchday. This also applies to changing captaincy as well.</p>
<p>For example, say Lionel Messi plays on the first day of matches and scores minimum points, managers have the option to replace him with another player from their bench who has yet to play, say Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi’s points will be removed from a manager’s overall score however Ronaldo will now have a chance to replace his points. This also applies if Messi was captained, managers can shift the armband to Ronaldo or another player in their squad (Messi would then lose his captain points as well). Keep in mind, substitutes can score less points than original players which now must be used and cannot be replaced.</p>
<p>A good tip to remember is to select a captain from a team playing on the first day of matches. If the captain selection blanks, managers can switch captaincy to another player, increasing the chances of scoring more points. This also applies to bench players; it is smart to try and select players in action over the course of all playing days.</p>
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<h2>Player scoring differences</h2>
<p>In terms of scoring systems, most of how players accumulate points is similar to FPL, <a href="https://gaming.uefa.com/en/uclfantasy/info/025f-0fd4b42cc0a7-74498b7df63b-1000/0">click here</a> to see a complete overview of the rules and the player points breakdown.</p>
<p>UCL Fantasy is scored in terms of Matchdays, similar to gameweeks in FPL. 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.</p>
<p>There are however a few scoring differences that are crucial for managers to understand and take advantage of. One of the most important scoring differences is ball recovery points. For every 3 ball recoveries, a player scores one point which opens up the range of players to select.</p>
<p>In FPL, a defensive midfielder may not be someone to target however in UCL, a player like Jorginho is someone to target for your team. Last year, Jorginho finished with 80 ball recoveries totaling 23 points. These types of players become more attractive since ball recoveries can be a reliable source of weekly points compared to goals/assists and clean sheets, albeit a more boring source of points.</p>
<p>A few other important scoring rules to note are goals from outside the box count for one extra point, winning a penalty (as long as the penalty is converted) is two points (not an assist) while conceding a penalty is -1 for the player who caused the foul for the penalty. When a penalty is awarded for handball, no points are awarded or deducted.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-38247 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1234974017.jpg" alt="uefa champions league fantasy football" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1234974017.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1234974017-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1234974017-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/GettyImages-1234974017-610x458.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></p>
<p>If you have played UCL Fantasy before there is a new scoring metric to understand, Player of the Match. At the end of every Champions League match, one player is given the Player of the Match award. This award is decided by UEFA&#8217;s technical observer panel which usually gives the award to the standout goal scorer or goalie who kept a clean sheet.</p>
<p>Compared to FPL, this is very similar to a player receiving the full bonus allocation for a particular match. When a player wins this award, they will score an extra three points for that Matchday.</p>
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<h2>Chips</h2>
<p>Similar to FPL, managers get two chips in UCL Fantasy. These can be played once each throughout the Champions League season.</p>
<p>The first chip is a wildcard (same as FPL). When played, managers will have the ability to change their squads using unlimited transfers. The players transferred in, will stay in the squad once the Matchday has finished.</p>
<p>Not technically a chip but basically a second free wildcard occurs before Matchday 7 (the round of 16). Every manager is given the opportunity to select a brand-new squad (same as wildcard) with the budget changing from €100 million to €105 million. This allows managers to remove the players from their teams that have been eliminated and is a great opportunity to get teams setup for the knockout stages.</p>
<p>The second chip is limitless which basically has the same function as the free hit chip in FPL. Limitless gives managers the chance to change a squad for one Matchday only. When played, managers will receive unlimited free transfers for that Matchday with no budget restrictions. Once the Matchday has finished, squads will return to how they were before the limitless chip was played.</p>
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<h2>Transfer deadline</h2>
<p>A major benefit to mangers in the UCL format is the transfer deadline. Unlike FPL, where the deadline occurs before lineups are released, and is a major headache for managers, the UCL deadline occurs five minutes before the first matches kickoff. This allows managers to view starting lineups before selecting their squads or making transfers.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in the group stages, only lineups from two games will be released before the transfer deadline, once the knockout stages occur, lineups for all Matchday one games will be visible for managers. For teams like Manchester City who rotate a lot, this allows managers insight into who is starting, which can really be helpful with transfer decisions.</p>
<p>This also helps when deciding to substitute a player off the bench, ensuring that player is starting and has a chance to improve points.</p>
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<h2>Player prices</h2>
<p>Unlike FPL, player prices and team value doesn’t have the exact same relevance in UCL. Player prices will remain the same until Matchday 3, once the Matchday 2 deadline has passed, some players&#8217; prices will adjust based on their performance, the same as FPL. Prices will then keep changing throughout the season, depending on how well each player scores. Just like FPL, managers start with €100 million budget to spend on a squad but unique to UCL, the budget</p>
<p>rises to €105 million from the round of 16 onwards.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading and I hope this article helps outline some of the important differences between FPL and UCL Fantasy. These unique differences make the gameplay for UCL very fun and enjoyable to play. If you haven’t played before, I encourage you to join, setup a squad, and expand your football knowledge. There is no better yearly tournament in the world than the UEFA Champions League.</p>
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<h2>More UCL Fantasy Content</h2>
<p>I will be producing more UCL fantasy content throughout the competition so keep an eye out and good luck!</p>
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