It took long enough for Barcelona to find its goal scoring touch, but when they finally broke through, it was an absolute show at Camp Nou. Their vaunted attack produced three goals in 17 minutes of action to close out the opening leg of their Champions League semifinal with a 3-0 aggregate lead on Bayern Munich.
Now the Spanish giants will attempt to put Bayern away and clinch a spot in the Champions League final as the teams head to Munich for the second leg. The biggest question for fantasy GM’s heading in to Tuesday’s action could be whether or not it makes sense to plug Lionel Messi in to their starting lineup given his astronomical cost. Here is a look at the optimal lineup for Tuesday’s daily fantasy leagues.
GK: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Barcelona
Salary: $4,700
Barcelona took a 3-0 lead in the opening leg and perhaps most impressive from that match was the fact that they were able to keep Bayern from scoring that crucial away goal. Don’t expect Barcelona to hold back or wilt on the road in this one as Ter Stegen still remains the better goalkeeper option with Messi and company on his side.
D: Dani Alves, Barcelona
Salary: $5,700
Alves is the most expensive option on the board but he has also been the most productive of the defenders available for Tuesday’s game. Alves has done a solid job on the back end and isn’t afraid to jump into the counter attack when the timing is right, so it makes sense to plug him in here as probably the most productive defender for Tuesday’s action.
D: Jordi Alba, Barcelona
Salary: $5,400
Alba is another quality option and considering Bayern will really have to push the tempo in attack mode from the outset, there will be plenty of work for the Barcelona defenders to take care of and pad their defensive fantasy statistics with in the second leg.
M: Thiago Alcantara, Bayern Munich
Salary: $5,700
We still don’t completely trust the Bayern attack but Alcantara provides us with a unique option that we could use here as a reasonably priced midfielder with high upside. Alcantara is another player that will contribute at both ends of the field but it’s his role as a central figure in the Bayern attack at a very reasonable price that pushes us to plug him in here.
M: Ivan Rakitic, Barcelona
Salary: $4,800
Rakitic makes sense because he has been a productive midfielder that is also available at a very reasonable price at under $5,000. There are a couple of other options here but Rakitic makes the most sense as a quality bargain play.
F: Neymar, Barcelona
Salary: $9,600
Most fantasy GM’s will go with Messi in this spot but considering his relatively strong production and the fact that he is available at nearly $2,000 less, we feel comfortable going with Neymar here. It might be seen as a bit of a gamble but considering his role up front and the potential for him to score two goals in this one the way Messi did in the last meeting, it makes sense to plug in Neymar here.
F: Luis Suarez, Barcelona
Salary: $8,900
Some might prefer to have another Bayern option here but this is exactly the type of game that Suarez is known to come up big in. He’s a pure finisher with the spotlight at its brightest. Factor in that he is almost $3,000 less expensive than Messi and we feel comfortable using Suarez here and saving that additional money for the FLEX position.
FLEX: Phillip Lahm, Bayern Munich
Salary: $4,000
The extra $2,600 that we save taking Suarez instead of Messi is more than half of what we need to buy Lahm at the FLEX position. Bayern’s captain will play a huge role at both ends of the pitch. He should be crucial to pushing the transition to the attack, so he is a solid value play at $4,000.
