RADIO
Matchday 4 of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League group stage delivered thrilling action, highlighted by Sporting CP's incredible 4-1 victory over Man City and FC Barcelona's stunning 5-2 victory over Red Star Belgrade. The first half of the group stage is over, but what does Matchday 5 have in store? Let's plunge in!
Matchday 5 promises more excitement, with headline clashes like Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool hosting Real Madrid this midweek. The road to Germany is set to be thrilling, ultimately leading to the final at Munich's Football Arena. RotoBaller remains your go-to source for top-tier UEFA Champions League fantasy content.
The Matchday 5 deadline of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League season is Tuesday, November 26 at 12:45 p.m. EST, when AC Sparta Praha entertains Atletico Madrid and ŠK Slovan Bratislava hosts AC Milan. Also, check out the rest of our excellent soccer coverage as the squad gets you all set for every English Premier League slate with our EPL DFS lineup picks and betting picks.
We're back! 😄#UCL pic.twitter.com/Iuzl8V7qnR
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 25, 2024
Matchday 5 UCL Fantasy Tips
Target Liverpool, Leverkusen and Milan's Attacking Assets
Liverpool continues to dominate, winning 13 of their last 14 games across all competitions. With Real Madrid facing significant injury woes and missing at least six key players, this fixture provides an excellent platform for the Reds to exploit the reigning UCL champions.
Slot 🆚 Ancelotti
For the first time ever...#UCL pic.twitter.com/03k059vuIJ
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 25, 2024
Leverkusen's fantastic start ended with a disappointing haul on Matchday 4. Still, their next home game against RB Salzburg, who have conceded 10 goals in their first four games, provides an opportunity for the German team to reclaim form.
AC Milan travels to Slovakia to face ŠK Slovan Bratislava, the UCL newcomers who are currently bottom of the league with no victories and 15 goals conceded thus far.
For Matchday 5, UCL Fantasy managers are strongly advised to focus their free transfers on any of Liverpool, Leverkusen, or Milan's attacking options.
Before MD5 👀
Any surprises? 🤔#UCL pic.twitter.com/r4Mu3ECB8w
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 25, 2024
This week's recommended targets include any of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Virgil Van Dijk; Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, Alejandro Grimaldo, and Jeremie Frimpong, and AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, and Theo Hernandez.
Double up on Inter's Defense
Despite facing challenging opponents such as Arsenal and Manchester City in their first four UCL games, Inter Milan has remained solid in their defense, keeping four consecutive clean sheets while remaining one of just two teams to have not conceded in the tournament.
🧤 4 games
⛔ 4 clean sheets #UCL pic.twitter.com/kBX6HgAiTm— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 15, 2024
Inter's backline has seen significant squad rotations in recent games, but a few players, such as Yann Sommer in goal, have appeared in all matches and made 14 saves for Inter. A double-up or combination of Sommer, Stefan De Vrij, or Denzel Dumfries could be crucial for clean-sheet points ahead of Matchday 5.
Capitalize on Celtic's UCL Home Advantage
Now unbeaten in 10 consecutive games across all competitions, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has turned the Scottish giants into a formidable force. Their Champions League standout performances have come at home this season, netting eight goals in their last two matches at Celtic Park.
🤩 Another #UCL night at Paradise on the way!#CelticClubBrugge | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/0md4026hGg
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 25, 2024
If you haven't picked a Celtic asset yet, you're in luck! Their UCL Fantasy options are all priced under €7m, making them highly affordable. Any of Celtic's attacking trio—Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, or Nicolas Kühn could be valuable additions for this week's matchup against Club Brugge.
👏 Nicolas Kühn scored his 11th goal of the season on Saturday!
Here's his stats from #HEACEL 📊#CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/yOf9KNZ7Jb
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 25, 2024
Matchday 5 Top Captain Picks
The Champions League midweek fixtures present many fascinating options for your captaincy choice. Players like Ademola Lookman, facing Young Boys, and Florian Wirtz, with a favorable home tie against RB Salzburg, all present strong cases. However, my top three picks across Matchday 3 would be:
Raphinha (€7.6m) - FC Barcelona
Raphinha, who leads the UCL Fantasy rankings with 50 points, has been in incredible form for Barcelona. In his first four UCL games, he scored five goals and assisted three times.
His excellent form can no longer be overlooked since he scored three back-to-back double-digit attacking returns for UCL fantasy managers. The Brazilian international will look to add to his goal tally when Barcelona hosts current fourth-placed Stade Brestois 29.
🇧🇷 Raphinha this season:
👕 4 games
⚽ 5 goals
🅰️ 3 assists
🏆 2 POTM#UCL pic.twitter.com/gnyIXxDI6g— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 12, 2024
Harry Kane (€10.7m) - FC Bayern Munich
Harry Kane is one of this season's top scorers, scoring five goals in his first four UCL appearances. His remarkable domestic form of 19 goal contributions (14 goals and five assists) in 11 games solidifies his place as a top captaincy pick this week.
The 31-year-old veteran boasts an impressive 0.97 xG per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga and has a stellar UCL record with 34 goals in 48 appearances. With a home clash against Paris Saint-Germain next, Kane is a prime captaincy option for Matchday 5 Tuesday fixtures.
Another Kane hat-trick 🎩#UCL pic.twitter.com/hIDI1DYEyy
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 25, 2024
Mohamed Salah (€10.1m) - Liverpool
Now boasting 12 goals and 10 assists across all competitions for Liverpool, the Egyptian King continues his phenomenal form, making him the standout captaincy choice for Wednesday’s Matchday 5 fixtures.
Salah consistently excels in high-stakes matches, with 45 goals in 82 UCL appearances. Given his recent league performances and Real Madrid's injury struggles, Salah is poised to deliver another stellar performance at Anfield.
Salah 💪#UCL pic.twitter.com/nJQm4lY3gL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 25, 2024
Differential Captain Pick (<10% ownership)
Patrik Schick (€6.3m) - Bayer Leverkusen
Fresh off a Bundesliga hat-trick over the weekend, Patrik Schick has quickly captured the attention of the fantasy community. His rise in interest is primarily due to the absence of Leverkusen's main forward, Victor Boniface, who is sidelined until the new year.
In his last league outing, Schick registered six shots and an impressive 1.46 xG, showcasing his clinical form. With a favorable home fixture against RB Salzburg, the Czech international emerges as our top differential captain for Matchday 5.
3 - Patrik Schick has now scored 3+ goals in a Bundesliga game on three occasions for Bayer 04 Leverkusen - only Ulf Kirsten (7) has done so more times for the club. Triple. pic.twitter.com/l319ic9OJC
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) November 23, 2024
Join The RotoBaller League
Once again, join our RotoBaller.com league. Hit any of our writers up over the next two weeks, and we will give you the code (also in the graphic below), and you'll be good to go. Good luck for UEFA Champions League Fantasy, RotoBallers!
Stick around for more UCL Fantasy content coming soon. Is there a question you would like to have answered every week? Hit us up on X @RotoBaller. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas!
