Champions League fantasy expert picks: Drop Lionel Messi for Neymar
We've reached arguably the trickiest week of the season in the Champions League, fantasy-wise. It's the final round of group stage games.
Three teams (Barcelona, Porto, Real Madrid) have already clinched the top spot in their group, and really have nothing to play for. The same goes for two teams (Roma, Schalke) who are already locked into second place in their group.
Seven more teams (Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United) have qualified for the Round of 16, but could still finish first or second in their group. And four spots are still up for grabs, with seven teams (Inter Milan, Liverpool, Lyon, Napoli, Paris-Saint Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham) in contention for those places.cheap nfl nike jerseys from china
So you'll probably see some star players rested, and you'll want your fantasy roster stocked with players who will be highly motivated on Tuesday and Wednesday.
That leads us to the biggest decision of the week: do you pick Lionel Messi, or not?
It's hard not to select him. Messi has been far and away the best player in the Champions League so far this season. Despite playing in only three of Barcelona's five games due to injury, Messi has accumulated more fantasy points than anybody else. He's averaging over 42 points per game, and no one else is averaging as many as 25.
Messi has six goals and an assist in three games, including two goals in Barcelona's first meeting with Tottenham.
This time around Barcelona will be playing at home. But as mentioned above, they've already clinched first place in their group. Tottenham, on the other hand, are still trying to fight their way into the knockout rounds. Therefore, Barcelona have only been made slight favorites by the bookmakers.
Messi may not even play, which would obviously make this decision much easier. But I'm not planning to pick Messi this week anyway.cheap nike nfl jerseys free shipping
Paris-Saint Germain haven't earned their spot in the Round of 16 yet, either. They're currently second in Group C, one point behind Napoli and two points ahead of Liverpool. But PSG are the biggest favorites of the week, playing at Red Star Belgrade.
