Fixture strategies

One of the key differences between Champions League fantasy football and other formats (with FPL being the most prominent) is the importance of when a team plays in a given week (or "matchday" as the folks at UEFA have somewhat confusingly titled each two days of action). In FPL, for example, you might have a personal preference to not have your captain in the lunch time kick off, as a bad score can lower your feelings about the week, but there isn't any actual advantage either way.

In UCL though, the ability to substitute players who offered little or no returns on Tuesday with someone playing on Wednesday is a huge advantage that needs to be carefully considered. Maximizing this strategy allows you to achieve a number of important advantages:

1. If your captain options play on different days then you essentially get two shots at a big haul every week. You still won't always pick your actual top scorer (if your first option scores 8 points you will likely keep the armband on him, so if your Wednesday option then notch a braces you will technically not have maximized your squad) but your chance of two pointers is greatly reduced.
2. You can take a few risks in your lineup with players who have higher upside but face rotation risk. Rotation risk is generally less of a problem in UCL than FPL as managers typically prioritize Europe's premier competition above their home leagues, but it remains something of a factor for teams like, say, Man City or Bayern, so having the ability to take a chance on someone like Foden (7m) or Davies (6m) is something to consider, knowing that if the don't play (or play just a few minutes) you can replace them tomorrow.
3. You can create rotation partners with, for example, two budget defenders which gives you two shots at striking lucky. FPL players are used to the concept of rotation strategies where we try and align two teams' fixtures, but this version is easier as you'll get a chance to play both player every week - the sole factor is just whether they play on different days.

The schedule this season sees teams in Groups A-D play on one day, and Groups E-H on the other. This gives us two pools of teams, from which you will really want to have at least four from each side. This allows you to have a full bench of players who play on the second day within the matchday, giving you the maximum spins of the proverbial wheel (teams are ranked best-to-worst per 538). You will also want to have at least one legitimate captain option from either side of the draw:

SPI (or Soccer Power Index) is 538's measure of overall team strength (Link)

I'd maybe suggest that the second group of teams offers slightly more high quality options, primarily due to the presence of heavy hitters like Bayern, Man City and Liverpool, but also explosive teams like Salzburg, Inter, and Atalanta. The first group has plenty of value too though, with the proven firepower of PSG and Barcelona, along with some promising individual talents at Dortmund and Chelsea.

We'll look at this dynamic again when we look at the position-by-position, but it's worth keeping in mind as an underlying principle that should have some bearing on how you pick you elite (i.e. captainable) option, defensive rotations etc.