A guide to Champions League fantasy

The European nights return in August, and the Champions League kicks off a new season. That is a nice opening on the fantasy side too: with a well-planned squad, watching the Tuesday and Wednesday matches turns into something else entirely. This guide walks through the format and the rhythm in plain terms.

The new format: the league phase

The Champions League has been played under a new format since 2024/25, and 2026/27 follows the same shape. The old group stage gave way to a single large league table. All 36 teams sit in one table, and each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents: four at home and four away.

Once the eight-match league phase ends, the table settles: the top eight go straight to the round of 16, the teams from 9th to 24th play a knockout play-off, and the bottom teams are out. So every week, and really every match, moves something in the table.

How fantasy weeks map to match days

European matches are usually played on Tuesday and Wednesday, sometimes Thursday. On the fantasy side, each league-phase round is a gameweek: before that week's matches start, you build your squad, pick your captain and make your transfers. As the matches are played the points come in, and once the week closes your team's total for that week is set.

Since there are eight match days in the league phase, think of it as an eight-week opening stretch, followed by the knockout rounds.

When should you build your squad?

The safest move is to have your squad ready before the first match day's deadline. When you build it, look not only at the big names but also at who plays whom in the early weeks: players from teams with a softer opening run can bring in points early. There is no need to rush, but once the deadline passes your squad is locked for that week, so it matters not to miss the cutoff.

Deadline and transfer rhythm

Each week has its own deadline, and it closes before the matches begin. While the week is being played your squad stays fixed; the transfer window opens once the week closes and stays open until the next deadline. Once you settle into the rhythm the rest is easy: when the window opens, update your squad, pick your captain and save before the deadline.

You can find how points are calculated, and the difference between provisional and final points, on the rules page.

If you are after a Turkish Champions League fantasy game for these nights, Oracle's 11 is here for exactly that, and you can follow both the Champions League and the Süper Lig in one place.