Okay, that’s the First Round complete.
Four through to the Quarter-Finals, eight into Round Two, four eliminated.
A.F.C. Chester 51 – 73½ Barons FC
51 is still considered a good score (average is 49.8), but Barons are playing at another level since the Champions League began. This result means that AFC Chester now have the unwanted record of going 10 games against an opponent with earning a single point. Barons don’t have to worry about the trifling matter of the Second Round, they leap forward into the Quarter-Finals.
Atletico Topo Chico 62½ – 69 Mighty Fine
Some big scores this week, including these two going at each other again. This fixture continued a run of (much lower-scoring) wins for Mighty Fine against ATC – 38-24 (BFFA Cup Final), 44-29 (PL, GW1) and 47-26 (PL, last week). The result means that Mighty Fine go up to seventh in the group table and ATC drop to tenth. Had Mbeumo and Richarlison not scored against each other in the opening game last weekend, it would have been ATC who finished the group stage in seventh, and MF would have dropped to eleventh. But as it is, they set up another two rematches for the next two gameweeks, and we hope the scoring remains high.
BattleVAR Galactico 36½ – 60 All Star Gunners
This is the one we wanted to focus on last week, because it looked like a do-or-die game for both teams. Such was the case, but only because Smash & Grab also scored so well in their match, see below. We said last week that how each team used Granit Xhaka could be the difference, it wasn’t as there was a 23½-pt difference at the final whistle, but the winners did right thing by benching him (0.5 FPts), while BVAR let him keep his place at the expense of Jeremy Doku (13.5FPts). The loss for BattleVAR meant that they became one of the two teams to be eliminated with one win from four games, and bow out of their first Champions League after the first round.
All Star Gunners competed in the Champions League Qualifiers in 2023 and 2024, losing to Fergi Time and Smash & Grab on aggregate, but qualified for this season’s CL via the Best-ish Reserve path. By winning this game they have now earned their best progression since CoVid, but potentially have another seven games to get through if they hope to repeat their 2018 success. First up they will face Championship rivals Peltier (who were also unsuccessful in the 2023 CLQ’s), whom they have already beaten twice this season – in the CL (58-50, GW9) and in the League too (52-47, GW7).
Gloopy Yarbles 63 – 66 De Bruyne Trousers
Despite the result, both teams should be happy with the outcome – the current holders are through to the next round and last season’s runners-up go straight through to the QF’s. A win for Gloopy wouldn’t have given them a much higher position (possibly seventh for a fixture against ASG), but the 60+ score kept them safe from elimination, which would have been their target. DBT go to the third round ranked #2, but will be disappointed that Josh Cullen was awarded a goal in the 97th-minute (whilst down 3-1) despite kicking the ball out of Areola’s hands and into the net. That GAO was the difference between DBT going through as #2 and not #1. That honour went to Housewives Favourite…
Housewives Favourite 46 – 32 Alleviate the Tedium
This pair also met in the CL First Round last season, where Wives Fave won both meetings. This one makes it three from three for Wives Fave, and they go straight into the Quarters as the Number One Seed. This means that they will automatically be given the lowest-ranked team progressing from the next round (possibly PL rivals Smash & Grab(#12) if they can get past The Phenoms). ATT will not be returning to the CL QF’s this season, nor the Second Round. In fairness, even a win here would not haven’t been enough to progress anyway (not unless they somehow managed a gameweek topscore of 80+!).
Hung Like a Bony 29 – 61½ Smash & Grab
It was essential for Smash & Grab to win in order to continue fighting for CL silverware. Not only that, but they also needed to jump over at least three other teams to save their campaign. With three goals (more than the last three weeks combined) from Schade, Saka and de Ligt, they passed through as the twelfth team. Hung, who were top of the group last week, didn’t need to win to hold on to a top-four place (in retrospect, they only needed eight matchpoints to earn it), but did fall to finish the group phase in fourth. Consequentially, they get a bye to the third round, but will face the highest-ranked R2 winner.
Preliminary Version 35½ – 62½ The Phenoms
The Phenoms made a valiant effort to rise up into the top four. They got the win they needed and enough matchpoints to challenge for a bye. If Housewives and/or DBT had scored 17 points less across the last four weeks, The Phenoms would have been in there. But they go into the Second Round (an improvement on last season) ranked fifth. Unfortunately for Prelim, they couldn’t join them in the Second Round. They slipped below the red line, shy of retaining twelfth place by a matter of 17 fantasy points.
Shams Army 65½ – 44½ Peltier
The final game of the round was a bit of a dead rubber. Neither team were able to get into the top four (largely because of other results), but neither team fell out of the top half. Specifically, Peltier (who were best-placed to move up, lost and went down to eighth. Had they scored 66 and won, they still would not have finished any higher than fifth. Shams Army also couldn’t score enough to better The Phenoms (short by 10 points), and were nowhere near Hung in fourth (30 points below). Nevertheless, both go into the next round to face lower-placed opponents.
Fixtures – Second Round, First Leg – GW12
Round 2: Two legs
GW12 & GW13
Smash & Grab #12 -v- The Phenoms #5
Sneaking into the next round with an unlikely win over high-scoring Hung Like A Bony, Smash & Grab just took the final place thanks to Bakayo Saka’s 10.5 points against Sunderland – exactly the margin between 12th and 13th. Watkins (38′), Zubimendi (49′) and Grealish (90+3′) all had shots on target saved, and the Burn red card reduced BattleVAR’s total even further. Smash, who have not won any silverware since 2021, will next face The Phenoms, sister team to reigning Dynasty Champions TrevAI.
The Phenoms have won their last three CL games (and their last four league games) and finished the group stage as best-of-the-rest below the bye-awarding places. In fact, if Barons had not impressed against Chester, that could have been Phenoms taking fourth place in the group.
This will be the first time these two have played each other, and they will get to enjoy the privilege twice in two weeks.
Gloopy Yarbles #11 -v- Shams Army #6
In their first meeting since last season’s final gameweek, the reigning Champions League Champions will be playing the Championship Champions – the team that beat Gloopy 43-41 in the Champions of Champions Final last May. Enough of the word “Champions”? I think Ted Lasso had a point…maybe we should rebrand the whole thing next season. You know where to send your suggestions.
Gloopy lost their fourth and final group game last weekend, somewhat harshly given that they put up a big score, but their 10-point win over Barons in GW9 was sufficient to get them into Round Two. The holders might have a tougher road to the Final, being ranked #11 of the remaining 12, but they do go forward with the fifth-best points tally. The strength is there, sometimes it’s about landing those scores at just the right time.
Shams Army had already qualified with two wins from the first three, but moved up one place in the final matchday with a third win.
Atletico Topo Chico #10 -v- Mighty Fine #7
For the first time in three attempts (or five if you’re the kind of heartless person that counts DNQ’s) ‘Leti have made it past the first round of the Champions League. Mighty Fine, lest we forget, won the whole thing in 2017 and 2021. The group table has thrown up another interesting arrangement – by finishing seventh and tenth, ATC and Mighty Fine will replay another two times, meaning that this pair will now face each other across the fantasy field an incredible FOUR gameweeks in a row! High drama and intense focus for the two BFFA Cup Finalists (but perhaps slightly more pressure on ATC, if just because they have lost this fixture the last four times).
In both the Premier League and Champions League, Mighty Fine beat opponent scores of over 60 thanks to Emi Martinez (off the bench) making that penalty save from Antoine Semenyo. ATC also won their PL match last weekend, but couldn’t better MF in the CL and so fell two places to tenth. This means that if ATC do go through to the Quarter-Finals, they will likely play one of the top two, DBT or Wives Fave. If this tie goes to Mighty Fine (again), they will avoid Housewives Favourite and instead play one of the other three.
All Star Gunners #9 -v- Peltier #8
As mentioned high above, ASG and Peltier have played already in this season’s edition of the Champions League, in Matchday 2 (GW9) when ASG won 58-50. The 2018 winners have also beaten Peltier in the Championship (52-47, GW7). However, over the course of this season, Atletico Topo Chico haven’t been consistently outscoring Peltier, in fact they’ve only done this 6 of 11 times. The last six weeks, they have alternated higher scores each week, which seems to indicate that this two-legged affair could end one-apiece. Therefore, an extra level of fantasy management may need to be employed.
When looking at fixtures like this, it’s all the more important to carefully examine the opposition’s team, to directly oppose their playmakers and find the differentials. Peltier’s Jacob Murphy will face ASG’s Nunes and then Dewsbury-Hall in back-to-back weeks, hoping to wipe out their clean sheets and deal some extra damage himself. For the returning champions, Chalobah and Garnacho will be playing to cancel out Jaidon Anthony in the first leg and Calafiori in the second. There are others. And of course, one has to watch out as teammates become adversaries – Xhaka and Mukiele are scoring points for opposite sides, as are Botman & Murphy, and both goalkeepers Donnarumma (vs. Nunes) and Petrovic (vs. Tavernier). Again, there are others too.
When we come back from the international break, the next round of the Champions League promises to be incredible. There will be big wins, narrow wins, faith rewarded and hopes dashed.
Watch this space. See you in two weeks.
From Round 3 the highest-ranked teams will face the lowest-ranked teams (rankings decided by the Group Stage positions). R3 is also two legs – GW15 & GW16.
Round 4 is the Semi-Finals.
Again, the highest-ranked team will play the lowest-ranked remaining side.
SF also two legs, beginning after the new year – GWs 22 & 23
And then the Final takes place in Gameweek 25. One leg – No replay if drawn.
Enjoy.
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