How UCL Fantasy works: rules, transfers and chips

UEFA Champions League Fantasy runs on matchdays rather than gameweeks. There are seventeen in total: eight in the league phase, two legs for the knockout play-offs, two for the round of 16, two for the quarter-finals, two for the semi-finals and one for the final. Each matchday except the final is spread across more than one night, usually a Tuesday and a Wednesday.

You pick fifteen players: two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. The budget is one hundred million at the start and rises to one hundred and five million after the league phase. Every matchday you start eleven with a valid formation, name a captain who scores double, and order your bench so automatic substitutions bring in the right players.

The club limit changes with the stage of the competition: three players from one club in the league phase, four in the knockout play-offs and round of 16, five in the quarter-finals, six in the semi-finals and eight in the final. The planner applies the limit for the matchday you are looking at, so a squad that is legal in the final can still be illegal in the league phase.

Transfers are unlimited before matchday 1, before the knockout play-offs (matchday 9) and before the round of 16 (matchday 11). During the league phase you get two free transfers per matchday and one unused transfer carries over, so you can hold three at most. In the knockouts each round has its own number and nothing carries over: two before the play-offs' second leg, three before the round of 16's second leg, five before the quarter-finals, three before their second leg, five before the semi-finals, three before their second leg and five before the final. Extra transfers cost four points each. Deadlines fall at the first kick-off of each matchday, so you can wait for the early team news before you finalise.

Once the first day's matches are over, you can sub out up to four starters for bench players whose clubs have not played yet, and switch the captain to someone who has not played. You can't on matchday 8, when every match kicks off at once, or in the final. If you make no changes during a matchday, automatic substitutions replace starters who did not play, in your bench order and within the formation rules. The planner works at the pre-deadline level, so it helps you choose the squad and captain; the mid-matchday changes are yours to make in the official game.

There are two chips, each usable once, on any matchday except 1, 9 and 11, when everyone has unlimited transfers anyway. The Wildcard gives unlimited free transfers within the budget, and the new squad stays. Limitless gives unlimited transfers with no budget for one matchday, and the squad goes back to what it was afterwards, which makes it ideal for a matchday where the biggest clubs all have kind fixtures. Free transfers saved before either chip are lost when you play it. The planner applies all of these rules.

Every player scores one point for playing and one more for playing 60 minutes. Goals are worth six for goalkeepers and defenders, five for midfielders and four for forwards, plus one for a goal from outside the box. An assist earns three, winning a penalty two and Player of the Match three, and every three balls recovered earn one. Goalkeepers and defenders get four for a clean sheet and lose one for every two goals conceded; midfielders get one for a clean sheet. Goalkeepers also earn one for every three saves and five for saving a penalty. A yellow card costs one, a red card three, an own goal two, a missed penalty two and conceding a penalty one.

Our UCL prices, positions, ownership and points come from UCL Fantasy's own player list, updated after each matchday, and the fixtures and match statistics from UEFA's public data. Prices change from matchday 3 onwards, so a price can lag the game until the next update.