Leap of faith with stars and differentials into our draft in the Fantasy #CLVolleyM quarter-finals

The first leg of the quarter-finals of the CEV Champions League Men is upon us, so we are getting back into the groove with the CEV Champions League Men Fantasy, after the first rounds saw a fairly successful performance from our team.

The first-of-its-kind experience for CEV, gives fans the opportunity to become the coach of their own team across the men’s and women’s European premium competitions. Fans can pick a team of twelve players with specific assigned positions inside a dedicated team budget of 100 million euros.

Haven’t you already signed in and chosen your team? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 

So, the rules are quite simple and can be found here. To start, you must select a squad of 12 players with an initial budget of 100 million fantasy euros. The initial squad selection must consist of: three outside hitters, three middle blockers, two setters, two liberos and two opposites. You must select 7 players from your squad of 12 players to form your starting roster for each game week.

Now, everything is crucial, therefore we invest the big chunk of our budget in the starters. We have learnt and adapted and now we get ready to our ninth draft in the CEV Champions League Men Fantasy.

KEY PLAYERS

Marek Šotola (€13m): We simply cannot ignore the fantastic form Šotola has this season. He is the highest scoring player in the Fantasy game, by a huge margin – over 100 points. He averages 68.6 points per match, is one of the top scorers in the CEV Champions League and had 99 points in the Fantasy game in the previous match, when Halkbank secured their place in the quarter-finals. With eight aces – an average of one per match – he can score there too, albeit he has 31 serve errors. Yet this is close to a lock it can be, especially in this circumstances.

Norbert Huber (€12m): We missed Huber in our drafts, as his side, Jastrzębski Węgiel, did not feature in the play-offs, winning their pool. We drafted Huber constantly in the 4th round because he never failed to deliver. He might not have the largest number of points in his position, but he has the best average number of points per match, 43.3, in the Fantasy game. He has 21 kill blocks this season and also 38 points scored. Huber is a force of nature and we cannot start the team without him.

Aaron Russell (€13m): We admit, we did not select a lot of Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie players in our drafts in the first place. Maybe that was a mistake, as the Polish side is undefeated so far. We are testing the waters here with American outside hitter Aaron Russell, who is averaging 43.2 points per match so far. He can block, he can attack, he is all-in-one type of player and with his side being favoured against SVG Luneburg, we expect a good return on our investment.

KEY DIFFERENTIAL

Simone Giannelli (€9m): The setter position does not bring a lot of points, but it can be decisive between a good and a bad week in the Fantasy game. And who else could be in our team other than Giannelli, the player who had the largest average number of points in the game, 28.3? Sure, Perugia did not feature in the play-offs and Giannelli did not play in the last match, but he is crucial for his team and there is no room for mistake now for the Italian side, as they take on another Italian team, Mint Vero Volley Monza, in a battle for a Final Four spot.