DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: Champions League Targets

This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.

Diego Benaglio, WOB v. RM ($3,200): A keeper against Ronaldo and Co. is an anxiety-inducing proposition, but Benaglio represents the lone home underdog, and in a two-leg scenario, Wolfsburg will be gunning for a clean sheet. Unfortunately, the Wolfsburg defense is in rather poor form. Real Madrid's free-wheeling attack paired with a lackadaisical defense out of Wolfsburg will likely to lead to many shots on goal, which ends up giving Benaglio the highest save upside of anyone on the slate. Wolfsburg has the fourth-longest odds of any team, but Benaglio will be the co-cheapest keeper along with Julio Cesar, who faces the near-impossible task of going to Germany to face Bayern Munich.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, FCB v. ATL ($4,200): Oddsmakers have Bayern and Manuel Neuer ($4,600) as the heaviest favorites, but with both of their top centerbacks set to miss out due to injury, ter Stegen at a few hundred bucks less constitutes the better chalk and cash-game play. Barca is coming off a rare loss at home last weekend against rivals Real Madrid, so expect them to bounce back against the other team from Madrid. Despite being second in La Liga, Atletico has scored 46 fewer goals this season than Barcelona.

Defenders:

Gael Clichy, MCI at PSG ($3,100): Clichy has firmly taken over the left back role from Aleksandar Kolarov, and he has been able to match his speed and defensive acumen to be a consistent and solid fantasy contributor. Regardless of matchup, Clichy can be counted on for some crosses and tackles and has been excellent at wracking up interceptions. He's scored between six and 14 fantasy points in each of his last nine outings.

Juan Bernat, BAY v. BEN ($3,300): Bayern has a bit of a depleted backline, which should lead to Bernat getting the start in a plus matchup. Despite a relatively poor recent game log, he has historically shown to be capable of reaching double-digit fantasy points through peripheral stats.

Filipe Luis, ATL at FCB ($3,400): Luis has shown the capability to accrue good fantasy numbers regardless of matchup (he had 12 fantasy points at Real Madrid back in February), and there's no reason to believe that good form should stop with Barca. Luis has similar stats to Clichy, but backs it with even more crossing and drawing fouls.

Midfielders:

Franck Ribery, BAY v. BEN ($6,500): Ribery splits Bayern's corners with Douglas Costa while also averaging nearly five open-play crosses per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga. Ribery has two goals and two assists in 391 minutes, which means he averages nearly a goal or assist per 90.

Kevin De Bruyne, MCI at PSG ($6,000): Sure, the matchup traveling to face PSG in Paris is tough, but this is an $8K player at $6K, and not to be mistaken as anything less than one of the best midfielders in the world. This past weekend's match against Bournemouth was the Belgian's first match back since January, and he scored a goal on his way to 21 fantasy points in just 57 minutes. The interplay between him, David Silva and Sergio Aguero brings the Manchester City attack to a new level that gives them a very realistic opportunity to take down PSG.

Toni Kroos, RM at WOB ($4,300): A lack of playing time for James Rodriguez has yielded more opportunity for Kroos, who before this past weekend's El Clasico had five consecutive double-digit fantasy point performances despite not scoring any goals.

Augusto Fernandez, ATL at FCB ($2,700): A starting midfielder under $3,000? There's little at this price level and the upside Fernandez lacks can very much be made up by the higher-priced players he'll afford you to take.

Forwards:

Thomas Muller, BAY v. BEN ($7,800):Robert Lewandowski ($8,100) has contributed to 35 goals in the Bundesliga and Champions League, while Muller has been a part of 33. That's close enough where the latter's superior peripheral stats put him slight ahead. The team is 1/5 to win; goals will be scored, and there is no bad option between the two.

Douglas Costa, BAY v. BEN ($7,400): As mentioned earlier, he is splitting corners with Ribery, but Costa ended up with 16 against Juventus in the second leg of the first knockout round. The goals haven't been too frequent on the season, scoring just two in 20 league starts, but Costa has averaged almost one assist per 180 minutes; stacking him with Ribery will give you a very high floor via peripheral stats from the heaviest favorite of the two days.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG v. MCI ($8,400):There has been no more efficient striker in the world than Ibrahimovic, who now has 30 goals in Ligue 1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez, Lewandowski, Neymar, they are all behind Ibrahimovic despite all playing several extra matches. Obviously, the French League is lesser in quality than La Liga or the Bundesliga, but that shouldn't devalue just how impressive the Swede has been.