SOCCER

Champions League Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 2/19/19

Lionel Messi is in a money spot with Barcelona a healthy favorite versus Lyon. Which other players should you target on Tuesday?

The Champions League, Europe's biggest soccer competition, knockout rounds return on Tuesday. FanDuel will be offering plenty of contests featuring the two Tuesday matches, both of which begin at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Round of 16
Tuesday, February 12th
Bayern Munich at Liverpool
Barcelona at Lyon


Barcelona and Liverpool are favored, somewhat heavily, in the first leg of these matchups. Both of those teams are also expected to advance, although Liverpool is only a slight favorite against Bayern over the two legs.

Liverpool's last game was on February 9th, so they should be well rested. Bayern Munich took home a come-from-behind 3-2 win on Friday. Lyon have won five of their last six matches. Barcelona got their first win in four games on Saturday after drawing the previous three. They are still seven points up in La Liga.

Let's look at some players at various price points who will have an impact on Tuesday's slate.

Forwards

Lionel Messi ($14,000) -- This one is likely a no brainer, but that price makes Messi tough to stomach. He averages 13 more FanDuel points per game than anyone else on the slate and has scored in eight of his last 10 matches. Messi has the best odds to score a goal in this game, as well. Messi scored the only goal for Barcelona in La Liga play this past weekend while putting five of his 12 shots on target. He also had 22 more touches than anyone on the team. There is not much more that can be said about Messi that has not already been said, but Lyon allows the most shots per game of all the teams remaining in the UCL, so Messi's strike partners are also in play.

Ousmane Dembele ($9,000) -- Dembele has recovered from an ankle injury. After 15 minutes in his first match back, he was able to play 70 minutes over the weekend. Dembele has scored 10 goals across La Liga and the Champions League. He is averaging close to three shots and key passes per match in the Champions League. He is also getting fouled twice per match and completing 2.5 dribbles. In the group stage, Tottenham and Eindhoven both saw what Dembele could do on the ball as his goals were both solo runs. He's capable of a big outing here and could fly under the radar a bit if the masses flock to Messi.

Midfielders

Sadio Mane ($9,500) -- Picking any of the five highest-priced attackers -- Messi, Robert Lewandowski ($12,500), Mohamed Salah ($10,500), Roberto Firmino ($10,500), and Luis Suarez ($10,000) -- makes plenty of sense. They all have warranted their selection with high-quality contributions in their playing time. However, Mane may be in the best form of everyone outside of Messi. He has 13 goals and one assist in all competitions and has scored in four consecutive Premier League matches. He is just behind Salah and ahead of Lewandowski as most likely to score in this match. Although Liverpool's defense is much improved, they still rely heavily on their front three. Liverpool averaged 16 shots per match in the group stage, which is a bit higher than their Premier League numbers.

Kingsley Coman ($6,500) -- Coman has been cleared to play on Tuesday despite sustaining an injury on Friday against Augsburg. He scored twice in that match and inspired the comeback for Bayern. Coman played just one match in the group stage, but he scored a goal against Ajax. He averages slightly more than one shot and key pass per match, but his most impressive statistic may be his 3.4 successful dribbles per 90. He also gets fouled twice a game. Coman is coming off his best performance of the season and will look to counter Liverpool's creativity with some of his own. If Coman cannot go on Tuesday, Serge Gnabry ($7,500) will need to play the provider.

Martin Terrier ($6,000) -- Terrier is an under-the-radar play. The 21-year-old scored a goal over the weekend and now has three in Ligue 1 to compliment his 83% pass completion rate. Terrier has not been a prolific goal scorer, but his ability to control the ball helps Lyon tremendously. He now averages a shot per match in the domestic league but has put up 1.5 shots per 90 minutes in limited action in the Champions League. With Nabil Fekir suspended for the first leg, Terrier and Memphis Depay ($9,500) must step up in order for Lyon to beat Barca. To add to Terrier's value, he had five defensive actions over the weekend and will be needed defensively against Barcelona. He offers a nice floor as well as much-needed cap relief.

Defenders

Jordi Alba ($7,000) -- Alba is one of only two defenders on this slate to average more than 20 FanDuel points in the Champions League. The other is Mats Hummels ($6,000), but Bayern have not kept a clean sheet this calendar year, and Hummels doesn't get forward in the way way Alba does. Alba recorded three assists against Tottenham and created 11 chances overall in the group stage. He has seven assists in La Liga and averages a tick more than one key pass per match. Alba also averages close to four defensive actions per match in the Champions League, making him a great all-around option.

Trent Alexander-Arnold ($6,000) -- Alexander-Arnold returned to the bench against Bournemouth and looks set to take back his starting spot while James Milner ($7,500) sat out as a precaution in a recent training session. Alexander-Arnold has a goal and three assists in the Premier League. He created six chances in his last group stage match against Napoli, which was one of the two UCL matches this season in which he produced at least 28 fantasy points. His defensive numbers in the Champions League are similar to his defensive output in the Premier League, but he does average more tackles in European play. Bayern do average more possession than Liverpool, so TAA should be needed on both ends.

Keeper

Marc-Andre ter Stegen ($6,000) -- The Barcelona keeper may be the highest-owned player on Tuesday, but he has the best chance for a clean sheet on this small slate. He also has the highest FanDuel average of any keeper available for selection. He scored at least 14 FanDuel points in four of the five matches he played in the group stage. Ter Stegen recorded eight saves against PSV Eindhoven in the last group stage match he starter. He is second in La Liga in clean sheets and will be looking to record another in leg one. It is worth noting that the contrarian play of Lyon's Anthony Lopes ($4,500) does have some merit as he has 30 saves in his last eight matches. Unfortunately, he has only one clean sheet in that time, so the hope in playing Lopes is that the number of saves he's forced to make counters the goals allowed.



Douglas Smith is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Douglas Smith also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username aquemini03. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her
articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.