UCL Fantasy Matchday 1 Best Budget Gems

The first round of the 2024/25 Champions League season is edging closer. With this in mind we continue our coverage by picking out the UCL Fantasy Matchday 1 best budget gems. To do this we consider several factors including fixture difficulty and form.

Budget players can be vital for UCL Fantasy managers. Cheap assets allow more budget for premium picks who can be some of the most consistent in the game. Finding cheap assets is essential but finding cheap assets who do well can contribute to both rank and mini-league position.

Michele Di Gregorio

Goalkeepers can be tricky in UCL Fantasy. It’s a position that doesn’t hold much potential but one we have to fill regardless. Avoiding the more expensive goalkeepers means we have to pick a cheap one and our first selection could be the best in the game.

Juventus have been defensively solid for some years now, their last Serie A campaign in which they managed 17 clean sheets is one example of that. The Italian side have translated that same form into the current season with four clean sheets in their first four league matches. Helping them achieve that was Michele Di Gregorio (€4.5m), who with a home match against PSV ahead could well add to that.

Morgan Rogers

Its been a long time since Aston Villa were in the Champions League. But, if there was one manager you would want in charge upon returning Unai Emery would be up there. They start their campaign with a match against Swiss side Young Boys.

Young Boys have started their own domestic campaign in worrying form – failing to win any of their six matches and conceding two or more goals in all of them. Rather than splashing out on Ollie Watkins trying to take advantage of that Morgan Rogers (€5m) could be a much cheaper way in. Although failing to score or assist since pre-season Rogers continues to start and get into fantastic scoring positions.

Waldemar Anton

Dortmund have a very good first fixture. The German side come up against Club Brugge away from home this week. Although winning their last four league matches on the bounce Brugge fell short against stronger sides in their division during their first three matches – drawing to Mechelen, and losing to both Standard Liege and Genk.

The above reinforces question marks around their overall quality. With that in mind and the fact Dortmund progressed all of the way to the final last season we could back Waldemar Anton (€4.5m). The Dortmund centre-backs produced more ball recoveries than any other defenders in the competition last season and their style of play could allow that to continue.

Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn

Celtic come into Matchday 1 in fantastic form. In fact, as well as winning every single one of their matches since pre-season they have also scored between 2-4 goals in each of them. A home match against Slovan Bratislava could be a perfect opportunity to extend their relentless form.

Another addition amongst the UCL Fantasy Matchday 1 Best Budget Gems is Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn (€4.5m). Since the final game of the previous campaign Kühn has produced five goals and four assists in just 10 games. With both form and fixture the 24-year-old could have lots of potential in Matchday 1.

Pau Cubarsí

Barcelona will be hoping to close the gap between themselves and Real Madrid this season both in Europe and domestically. They have made a positive start towards this as they sit top of La Liga with a game in hand.

Ahead of them is Monaco away from home. Taking into account the 17 clean sheets they kept in the league last season Barcelona could be a good side to invest in this week. This is made even more clearer when seeing that first team centre-back Pau Cubarsí (€4.5m) comes in with a very low price-tag. The 17-year-old offers clean sheet and ball recovery potential but also managed an assist in his recent La Liga match.