Best defenders for UCL Fantasy

The Champions league is back for another season which means the fantasy game is too. With that in mind we take a look at the best defenders in UCL Fantasy using previous, current and team form with the help of underlying stats.

Focusing on the best defenders for UCL Fantasy could be absolutely crucial. When it comes to building our squads many within the community will be hoping to find some of the best defensive options with the most potential.

Ruben Dias

There is no defence in the Champions League stronger on paper than Manchester City’. The current European Champions banked a huge eight clean sheets in their most recent UCL campaign. They go into the new season with matches against Leipzig, Young Boys and Crvena Zvezda so they have plenty of potential to keep clean sheets.

Manchester City have already kept the joint most clean sheets domestically whilst also sustaining some of the best underlying defensive stats in the league. The safest way into the backline is Ruben Dias (€5.5m). The Portuguese centre-back collected a huge 75 points, seven clean sheets and a whopping 61 ball recoveries leading to 17 points in the 22/23 campaign. Dias scored which contributed to his points last season showing he also has some goal threat.

Theo Hernandez

Milan have shown massive progress over the last several years and the fact they advanced all of the way to the semi-finals last season is a good example of that. The Italian side have started the campaign close to perfect winning all three of their first three league matches but keeping just one clean sheet.

It may a tough group for Milan as they face the likes of Newcastle, Dortmund and PSG. However, although clean sheets are a great way to earn points for defenders full-back Theo Hernandez (€6.5m) has other routes to earn points. Already Hernandez has shown his attacking threat after scoring a goal in one of his last two games in Serie A. He also notched up nine attacking returns both domestically and in Europe last season. There could be some tight score lines between the four sides in Group F and if that is the case then Theo could add clean sheet potential to his arsenal.

Fran Garcia

Real Madrid have the biggest history in the Champions League and that is relevant because they have the ability to get results even when looking like the underdogs. The Spanish giants have played four La Liga matches so far and won them all. During that same period they also banked two clean sheets which shows they have good defensive potential.

Union Berlin, Napoli and Braga lay ahead for Real Madrid. Union Berlin and Braga offer the potential for four clean sheets in the groups and Real Madrid have also shown they can keep clean sheets against big opposition like Napoli in the past. The cheapest way into the defence is full-back Fran Garcia (€4.5m). The left-back has started all four of their games so far and finding a Real Madrid defender at €4.5m is something very difficult to ignore in UCL Fantasy.

The Inter wing-backs

Inter were fantastic last season making it all of the way to the Champions League final and restricting Champions Manchester City to just one goal. The Italian side were brilliant defensively as well and managed to secure eight clean sheets last campaign.

With three wins and three clean sheets in three league matches Inter have started the new season perfectly. They face Benfica, Real Sociedad and Salzburg in the Group Stage D but Inter also play with a back-three system which allows their wing-backs into some of the most advanced positions on the pitch. Inter have two great wing-backs to consider and there is very little to separate them.

Some should consider left wing-back Federico Dimarco (€5.5m) who is the most creative of the two after registering two assists in his last two matches two assists in pre-season and an impressive five assists in the Champions League last campaign. For goal threat then Denzel Dumfries (€5.5m) could be the one. The Dutchman loves to shoot and has already netted twice during pre-season and in the league. Dumfries also created three assists in the same period showing great creativity as well.

Alexander Bah

Benfica have a great group against the likes of Real Sociedad, Inter and Salzburg so have plenty of opportunities for potential. The Portuguese side were excellent last season and eased their way to the latter stages of the competition. This campaign they have also started well winning three of their first four matches and keeping two clean sheets.

Defensively they look good and with the opposition they have coming up there could be some great opportunities for returns. One player we should all consider is Alexander Bah (€5m). The left-back collected a cool 42 points in total last season which averaged out at 5.25 points per game. He also showed his offensive quality registering two assists. Some could also consider centre-back Nicolas Otamendi (€5m) who recovered a whopping 71 balls last season which contributed 20 points towards his total.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo

Napoli claimed the Serie A title last campaign after a relentless run of results. They also managed to keep a huge 18 clean sheets which shows just how good their defence can be. They come up against Real Madrid, Braga, and Union Berlin in the Group Stage and Napoli will be hoping to keep clean sheets in more than half of those matches.

Napoli have some great defensive assets including the cheap enabling centre-back Juan Jesus (€4.5m). However, the standout pick amongst the backline is Giovanni Di Lorenzo (€5.5m). The Italian full-back was one of the best defensive assets in the game last season after bagging 70 points with the help of two assists, two goals and four clean sheets. Di Lorenzo has already shown signs of the same form this season with one goal, two assists and one clean sheet from three league matches.