Top scorers headline play-offs draft in the Fantasy CEV Champions League Women game

The CEV Champions League Women is back for the play-offs, and so is the CEV Champions League Fantasy game, with new picks ready to be made by enthusiastic managers.

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 chose 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.

Of course, the risk of having a player not featuring on the court is high, as proven in the first round, where plenty of teams rested their key starters. We have learnt and adapted and now we get ready to our first draft in the knock-out phase of the CEV Champions League Women Fantasy.

KEY PLAYERS

Krystal Rivers (€12.5m): With only six teams competing in the play-offs, the options are limited. But even if that was not the case, Rivers would have still made our team, as the sole player on the opposite position. She has been the best player overall in the Fantasy game, scoring 391 points in the 4th round. Rivers averaged 65.2 points per match, and with her side, Allianz MTV Stuttgart, needing a win to progress to the quarter-finals, she will be relied upon here too. Rivers can do it all – she has seven aces, 14 blocks and a ton of attacks this season and she’s a no-brainer, even if on that position Paola Egonu can also be selected, with the Italian providing much-needed help for her side in crunch matches.

Paulina Damaske (€8.5m): Damaske might have score nearly 40 points less than Rivers this season, but she has also led the outside hitter standings with some exquisite performances. The Polish player had 353 points, being in a class of her own, with an average of 58.8 points in this season. She can also attack, block and deliver some few aces and will be crucial for Budowlani Łódź’s challenge for a place in the quarter-finals. 

Alessia Orro (€7m): The setters score less points than the opposites or outside hitters, but they can swing the performance of a Fantasy team in emphatic fashion. This is why, for example, Alessia Orro is a prime pick. One of the best setters in the CEV Champions League Women, if not the best, Orro is delivering at a good pace and 42 points in her last match. Actually, she has a 39.5 points average per match, having also delivered nine aces and five blocks, as she can do it all on the court.

KEY DIFFERENTIAL

Nataša Čikuc (€6.5m): Tent Obrenovac are the surprise package of the competition, in their maiden appearance in the European premium competition. They have delivered some fantastic matches and core to that performance has been Nataša Čikuc, their middle blocker, who is just close to their top scorer Mina Mijatović. With only 13 points less, but a budget enabler, priced at only €6.5m, Čikuc has scored 240 points and is one of the top middle blockers in the Fantasy game.