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Adewale covers top fantasy tips and captaincy picks for Matchday 16 in the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League season.
Matchday 15 of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League delivered thrilling action, highlighted by Denzel Dumfries' 19-point haul, scoring a brace against FC Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain defeating Arsenal 1-0 at the Emirates. Round two of the semi-finals is here! Ready your fantasy teams as the final four teams square off for the Champions League trophy.
Matchday 16 promises more excitement with reverse clashes like Inter vs. FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain hosting Arsenal 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 16 deadline of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League season is Tuesday, May 6, at 3:00 p.m. EDT. 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.
🤔 Who will reach the final?#UCL pic.twitter.com/ptO7637t1j
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 5, 2025
UCL Semi-Finals - First Leg Recap and Lessons Learnt
In our Matchday 15 preview, we predicted that set pieces would be an effective means to score fantasy points, and indeed it proved beneficial to managers who brought in Inter defender Denzel Dumfries, who scored twice from corners.
Here are three highlights from the first round of the semi-finals:
- Role of Shot-stoppers: Paris Saint-Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma (5) and Inter's Yann Sommer (8) made a combined total of 13 saves. This proves goalkeepers are still worth investing in, if not for keeping clean sheets, then at least for preventing the opponent from scoring.
- The Value of the POTM Award: Vitinha has now won the Player of the Match award three times in the knockout stages and has been a solid asset this season. When selecting your next captain, managers must consider who is most likely to finish as the best player on the pitch and earn an additional three-point bonus.
- No Lewandowski, No Problem: Even without Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona managed to score three past Inter's defense. Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Ferran Torres were involved in each goal scored, with Yamal leading the stats for his 13 dribbles completed.
What do you find most interesting here? 👀@FedExEurope | #FedExPerformanceZone pic.twitter.com/BY44ZCkyXI
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 2, 2025
What should fantasy managers expect in the second leg?
At this juncture of the season, a winner must emerge. If the tie remains a draw, penalties will determine which team advances to the final. As a result, we could expect one or both games to end in a penalty shootout.
In general, penalties after 120 minutes do not contribute to our fantasy points. Nevertheless, UCL Fantasy managers need to maximize their next three available transfers by selecting players who are likely to feature in every minute from start to finish.
Matchday 16 UCL Fantasy Tips
All-in on Paris Saint-Germain Assets
With Arsenal failing to capitalize on their perfect home record in the Champions League, the Gunners continue their poor run in the semi-finals, leaving the door open for their French rivals to pounce in the second leg.
0 - Arsenal have failed to win any of their last seven semi-final matches in all competitions (L5 D2) and failed to score in the last six in a row. Blanks. pic.twitter.com/xqwzmZmMCD
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 30, 2025
Paris Saint-Germain are second in the Champions League for most goals scored (30), behind only title rivals Barcelona (40). The Parisians will be looking forward to dominating the second leg on Wednesday as they aim for their second Champions League final since 2020.
This Week's Recommended Targets
- Paris Saint-Germain: Vitinha (on pens), Ousmane Dembélé, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Matchday 16 Top Captain Picks
The Champions League midweek fixtures present many fascinating options for your captaincy choice. Players like Lautaro Martinez, facing FC Barcelona, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia against Arsenal all present strong cases. However, our top two captain picks across the second leg of the semi-finals are:
Raphinha (€7.9m) - Barcelona
Raphinha, who leads the UCL fantasy rankings with 130 points, was an important asset in Matchday 15, helping Barcelona to rescue a draw in the first leg of the semi-finals.
The Brazilian international has now amassed 46 points in his previous five games, including 20 goal contributions in the Champions League this season. Perfectionist!
Looking for a player to step up in the big games? Raphinha is your man to bet on, and hence, our RotoBaller captain of the week.
Only Ronaldo has been involved in more goals in a single Champions League campaign than Raphinha 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lJo26kGyBP
— 433 (@433) April 30, 2025
Ousmane Dembélé (€8.6m) - Paris Saint-Germain
The 27-year-old is PSG's leading scorer across all competitions and has been phenomenal in the Champions League, producing 11 goal contributions (eight goals, three assists) thus far.
Averaging 0.67 non-penalty expected goals (npxG) per 90 minutes, Dembélé will be a significant goal threat against Arsenal's defense, and he is a top contender for the captain's armband this Wednesday.
120 - Ousmane Dembélé has been involved in more attacking sequences of play (120) than any other player in the UEFA Champions League this season. Threat. #UCL pic.twitter.com/WjWOpFFQyS
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 29, 2025
Good luck with your final selections this week!
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 in the 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!
