UCL MD-6 Player Picks

What a week of football that was! Goals, drama, upsets — MD-5 had it all. We head into the final group-stage games for this season’s UCL. While some teams have already sealed their fates, others have it all to play for. It's crunch time in both real and fantasy versions of the Champions League. While some clubs have one last shot to book the Round of 16 spots, fantasy managers have one last chance to make a sizeable rank gain to set a solid foundation for the knockout stages.

Remember, we all get unlimited free transfers after this round, so there’s little reason to look beyond the current week. With that in mind, here are a few players who could help boost your rankings.

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Goalkeepers

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Diogo Costa (€5.1m,FC Porto vs Atlético Madrid)

Diogo Costa has been the best goalkeeper of this season’s fantasy UCL so far. He has made three penalty saves and kept three clean sheets. With Porto defending a lackluster Atletico attack, the Portuguese club has good clean-sheet potential. Even if Atletico are to get a penalty, one wouldn’t put it past Costa to save it again.

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Stefan Ortega (€4.5m, Man City vs Sevilla)

With nothing to play for in MD-6, Pep might yet again look to give Ortega minutes in goal. Ortega has great potential for a clean sheet, backed by a solid Man City defense.

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Defenders

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Álex Grimaldo (€5.3m, Maccabi Haifa vs Benfica)

In the reverse fixture, Grimaldo scored a goal, provided an assist, and kept a clean sheet to earn 20 points in MD-1. Fresh off a goal in the Portuguese League, Grimaldo has good potential for attacking returns against a leaky Maccabi Haifa defense.

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Sergio Gómez (€4.1m, Man City vs Sevilla)

Returning from a one game suspension after getting his MD-4 red card, Sergio Gómez should come straight back into Man City’s starting 11 to help ease Pep’s fullback crisis. Man City always offers clean sheet potential, and Gomez layers good assist potential on top of that.

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Ivan Perišić (€6m, Marseille vs Tottenham)

With all to play for in Group-D, Tottenham needs a win to ensure first place. Perisic is crucial for Spurs both offensively and defensively. In four UCL appearances, Perisic has provided two assists, earning 25 fantasy points, and he has good assist and ball-recovery potential against Marseille.

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Nicolás Otamendi (€4.7m, Maccabi Haifa vs Benfica)

Benfica has a chance to win Group-H if PSG slips against Juventus. Otamendi is vital to Benfica’s defensive solidity, also offering goal threat from set pieces. He also averages seven ball recoveries per UCL game and should get plenty more against Maccabi Haifa who’ll sit back and hit Benfica on the counter.

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Ben Chilwell (€5.5m, Chelsea vs Dinamo Zagreb)

With the top spot in Group-E sealed for Chelsea, Potter could use his squad’s depth to give rest to stars and much-needed game time to backups. In the reverse fixture, Zagreb defeated Chelsea 1-0, but nothing has gone Zagreb’s way in the UCL since. Chelsea is a different proposition at home and is expected to keep a comfortable clean sheet with Chilwell having the added advantage of a good assist potential if he features.

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Midfielders

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Steven Bergwijn (€7.1m, Rangers vs Ajax)

In the reverse fixture, Ajax thrashed Rangers 4-0, Bergwijn scoring a goal. He is Ajax’s best attacking threat, boasting the highest goal-scoring potential amongst the Dutch side’s frontline. With third place already sealed for Ajax barring an unlikely 5-goal loss to Rangers in MD-6, we could see some rotation in the Ajax lineup.

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Jamal Musiala (€7m, Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan)

With Bayern already cementing the top spot of Group C, picking any Bayern player comes with an added risk. But Bayern’s injury crisis in attack could see Naglesmann forced to field Musiala and Co. He is Bayern’s top goalscorer in the Bundesliga, and he has been unlucky not to get on the scoresheet in the UCL. At €7m, the German teenager is the best mid-priced pick in the game if he features. Pedro Goncalves is the best safe alternative at this price.

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Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (€5.8m, Liverpool vs Napoli)

After resting in Napoli’s 3-0 win over Rangers in MD-5, Kvaratskhelia should feature against a struggling Liverpool side to confirm Napoli’s top spot in Group A. Kvaratskhelia is the talisman of the high-scoring Napoli side, the Georgian even potentially taking penalty kicks.

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Christopher Nkunku (€9m,Shakhtar Donetsk vs RB Leipzig)

Leipzig needs a draw to ensure qualification and has to win to stand a chance of topping the group. With all to play for, Nkunku will look to continue his brilliant goal-scoring form, having netted two goals in five UCL games this season, and nine in the Bundesliga.

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João Mário (€6m, Maccabi Haifa vs Benfica)

João Mário has scored three goals and provided an assist in five UCL games. He is Benfica’s main penalty taker and should get plenty of chances to score from open play too, considering Maccabi Haifa has conceded 15 (!!) goals.

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Forwards

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Kylian Mbappé (€11.2m,Juventus vs PSG)

PSG is scoring goals for fun in the UCL while PSG’s MD-6 opponent Juventus is leaking them. Mbappe is in great goal-scoring touch and is also PSG’s main penalty taker, making him the best forward pick from PSG’s front line.

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Robert Lewandowski (€11.2m, Viktoria Plzen vs Barcelona)

Barcelona is out of contention for the UCL Round of 16 and can’t do better or worse than 3rd place in the group, so Barcelona could try to go out with pride by fielding a strong team. That would give Lewandowski a chance to improve his Champions League goal tally, but picking Lewandowski is a gamble after Barcelona’s tight 1-0 win over Valencia in La Liga. However, the Catalans play on Tuesday, so if Lewandowski is rested, then you can sub him from your bench on Wednesday. Lionel Messi is the best alternative to Lewandowski if you are looking for a safer pick.

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Julián Álvarez (€5.9m, Man City vs Sevilla)

With Man City manager Pep Guardiola ruling out Erling Haaland for MD-6, Alvarez becomes a terrific value pick. Backed by City’s creative midfield, the Argentine striker should get lots of goal-scoring opportunities.

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For further MD-6 resources and guidance, please see Chris’s Rate My MD-6 Limitless Chip Team article and MiQ’s MD-6 Fantasy Preview.

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Was this article useful? Did we overlook anyone? What is your strategy for MD-6? Are you using any chips this week? If yes, which chip are you planning to use? If not, which week have you penciled it for? Have questions of your own? Please login and share your thoughts in the comments section!

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