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Adewale (TheFPLManual) covers the best league phase fixtures to target in the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League season. Read his top targets and plays for 2025-26 UCL Fantasy
Hello, RotoBallers! Welcome to our second preseason UCL Fantasy article. We're less than two weeks away from when Matchday 1 kicks off, and it's time to examine those favorable fixtures in the league phase for the new season.
From 15-time champions, Real Madrid, to newcomers, FC Kairat Almaty, set to make its debut. The Champions League is packed with exciting matchups ahead. Our job here is to help uncover which team is worth investing in between Matchdays 1 and 8.
The Gameweek 1 deadline for the 2025-26 Champions League fantasy season is Tuesday, September 16, at 12:45 p.m. ET, when PSV Eindhoven hosts Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and Arsenal travels to Spain to face Athletic Bilbao. Check out the rest of our excellent soccer coverage as the squad gets you all set for every EPL and UCL slate with our EPL DFS lineup picks and betting picks.
How To Play UEFA Champions League Fantasy?
In case this is your first, second, or 15th time playing UCL Fantasy, we recently covered a quick guideline on How To Play the UEFA Champions League Fantasy. This piece will put you on track with the rules of the games, chips, transfers, and prizes to be won. Please take a look at it later. Cheers!
So many wonderkids 😱
Who's making your fantasy team? @PlayStationEU | #UCLfantasy
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 5, 2025
Brief UCL Recap: 2024-25 League Phase Overview
Before we can take a step into the future, we must reflect on what history has taught us. The 2024-25 season marked the beginning of a new era, as the Champions League transitioned from a group stage format to a league phase. However, how did the 36 participating teams fare?
Liverpool finished first with 21 points, securing seven wins and losing one, while teams such as Bayer Leverkusen, LOSC Lille, and Aston Villa (16 points) produced excellent runs to finish in the top eight places.
The league phase is over!
Three players got a hat-trick tonight, and our ever-dependable Raphinha had two assists to his name.
How many points did your #UCLFantasy team score tonight? Anyone in the 💯club?
Show-off those scores below 💪 pic.twitter.com/r3tK9eGDAC
— FPL Manual (Wale) (@TheFPLManual) January 29, 2025
On the other end of the table, Young Boys and then newcomers ŠK Slovan Bratislava finished with zero points. RB Leipzig, in 32nd position, had only one league win and was regarded as one of the competition's underperforming teams.
Only four points separated ninth-placed Atalanta B.C. from Club Brugge KV, which ended 24th and was favored by goal difference. Stade Brestois 29, playing its debut season, finished 18th on the table and once found itself in the top eight before winter.
It appears that 15 points is insufficient to secure a spot in the top eight; hence, the upcoming season will likely see most clubs aiming to win six games (18 points), which serves as a safety net for direct qualification to the Round of 16.
What have we gathered? A minimum of 18 points is required to finish in the top eight, while UCL debutants are likely to end in the bottom three, except those who beat the bookmakers' odds.
With that in mind, let's develop a fine print for examining this season's league phase fixtures:
- RotoBaller Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR): Ranking all 36 clubs from best fixtures to toughest run
- Chip Strategy
Champions League: All the league phase fixtures for 2025/26 👇#UCL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 30, 2025
RotoBaller FDR Full Breakdown: All 36 Teams Ranked
The table below was ranked based on the following metrics: 2024-25 Coefficient rankings, Country rankings, and official UEFA POTs.
Each team above has been vetted based on its Champions League record and recent form in European competitions and classified into the following groups:
- Defending European Champions: Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham, and Chelsea.
- UCL Favorites: Real Madrid, FC Bayern Munich, and Liverpool
- Challengers: Man City, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and Inter Milan
- Old Returnees: Villarreal, Olympique de Marseille, Olympiacos, SSC Napoli, and Galatasaray SK
- Newcomers: Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, FC Kairat Almaty, Pafos, and FK Bodø/Glimt
Now that we've sorted all teams, let's figure out which ones to invest in and which to avoid during the league phase.
Best League Fixtures To Target
Tottenham, the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League champions, are ranked first, having been assigned a fair number of easy fixtures in the league stage. Spurs only face defending champions Paris Saint-Germain this winter before hosting Borussia Dortmund at home in January 2026.
🆕#UCLFantasy Fixture Ticker out! (MD 1-6)
Spurs have a good chance of finishing in the top eight spot, with only PSG posing a huge threat in Matchday 5 💪#UCL Debutants: USG, Pafos and Kairat Almaty are elimination favorites 😮💨
See more on all 36 participating teams 👇 pic.twitter.com/3F3fCL21UE
— FPL Manual (Wale) (@TheFPLManual) August 31, 2025
FC Barcelona, SSC Napoli, and Arsenal are all among the top 10 teams with the best fixtures. Beware of Inter Milan; the Nerazzurri have a solid run between Matchdays 1 and 4, but after that, they face Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund in back-to-back succession.
Navigating this period is crucial to staying on top of your UCL Fantasy mini-league—more on that in the Chip Strategy section.
The Narrow Path: Teams with Tough UCL fixtures
Looking at last season's data, Girona, Bologna, and ŠK Slovan Bratislava finished in the elimination places. With the quality of elite teams awaiting these sides, it's going to be tough for this season's newcomers to scale through.
This season, four newcomers - Bodø/Glimt, USG, Pafos and Kairat Almaty are set to make their mark. Qarabağ FK making their second-time appearance in the #UCL
Decided to show some love to teams in the bottom 5⃣ of the FDR rankings. Do you see any upset happening? 🔮#UCLFantasy https://t.co/3IaVtf1xeh pic.twitter.com/cSXBhqUluT
— FPL Manual (Wale) (@TheFPLManual) September 1, 2025
However, soccer is never a predictable game on paper. A few teams ranked in the bottom 10 for tough fixtures could put up an upset and finish in the knockout playoffs places, provided they finish with 11 to 12 points.
In addition, PSV Eindhoven, SL Benfica, and Club Brugge KV all have a fair chance of securing three points in Matchday 1, but it's a little bleak going forward till Matchday 6. Keep an eye on Atalanta BC, which faces both Athletic Bilbao and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in its final matches.
Chip Strategy
When it comes to chips, there is really no format for how a manager can take advantage of the fixtures. Sometimes it's team-dependent; other times, it's a tactical ploy to maintain a top-100 overall rank. Here are two chip strategies to consider for the 2025-26 season.
Strategy 1 - Limitless: Matchday 2, Wildcard: Matchday 5
This recommended strategy takes the "the early bird catches the worm" approach. Let's examine Matchday 2 to see why the Limitless could work out perfectly.
Favorable Matchday 2 fixtures:
- FK Bodø/Glimt vs. Tottenham
- Inter vs. SK Slavia Praha
- Arsenal vs. Olympiacos
- Chelsea vs. SL Benfica
- SSC Napoli vs. Sporting CP
- FC Kairat Almaty vs. Real Madrid
- Pafos vs. FC Bayern Munich
Among the above fixtures, Real Madrid, Bayern, and Tottenham face off against Kairat Almaty, Pafos, and Bodø/Glimt, respectively. This looks like the best time to invest in selecting the top elite fantasy assets without a care for budget restrictions.
Matchday 5 marks the midway point in the league phase, and it's another opportunity to use the next chip, the Wildcard, as we will know which teams are in form. Galatasaray, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City have an excellent set of home fixtures, and this presents an opportunity to reset your fantasy team.
Our #UCL squad list. pic.twitter.com/uiivJ0QbiP
— Galatasaray EN (@Galatasaray) September 3, 2025
Strategy 2 - Wildcard: Matchday 5, Limitless: Matchday 8
Patience is a virtue as a UCL Fantasy manager. Thus, managing a plethora of opinions to start the season on a high note is critical for this strategy. A double up on Tottenham, Napoli, Inter, or Barcelona assets provides the safe route to take between Matchdays 1 and 4, should you follow this route.
However, when the fixtures take a turn for teams such as Inter and Tottenham, the next step is to activate the wildcard chip and reset your team. Your key targets in Matchday 5 include Liverpool, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain assets, who have a favorable run of games till Matchday 8.
Some managers may disagree with using Limitless on the final day, but it's a valuable tool in navigating unforeseen team rotations. All 36 teams are set to play simultaneously, and each manager will have access to team lineups, ensuring a clear understanding of which players are available.
This could also be a bold time to take a punt on a few differentials from teams looking to finish among the top 24 teams and escape elimination. If this chip is used wisely, it could be a guaranteed rank booster before heading into the knockout stage.
That's all, folks! Our Matchday 1 UCL Fantasy Preview article will be ready next week, and we'll be here to share our insights for the opening fixtures.
Stick around for more 2025-26 UEFA Champions League Fantasy content coming soon. Hit us up on X @RotoBaller. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas!
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