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Fantasy Focus: Benfica stars cash in
It’s a long way from the tiny Luxembourg commune of Erpeldange-sur-Sure to the bright lights and buzz of Orlando. There are sure to be plenty in the town’s barely two and a half thousand inhabitants though that will be toasting one of their favourites sons after Leandro Barreiro ($5.6m) played a star role in SL Benfica’s 6-0 romp against Auckland City FC at the FIFA Club World Cup™.
Having played only a minute in his team’s opener against CA Boca Juniors, the 25-year-old Luxembourg international (owned by less than 1% of all players) lined up alongside Orkun Kokcu ($6.6m) at the base of the Benfica midfield and promptly set about scoring twice, keeping a clean sheet and earning the scouting bonus on his way to a 17-point haul.
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That was a mark matched by the ageless Angel Di Maria ($7.3m) who backed up a ten-point first up outing with another outstanding display against the amateurs from New Zealand where he scored twice and also won a penalty.
With the group stage now at the halfway mark, Di Maria’s 27 points places him second on the overall FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy leaderboard. He trails only FC Bayern München star Michael Olise who had another strong outing, with a goal and two chances created as he banked nine points in a 2-1 win against Boca Juniors.
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SL Benfica 6-0 Auckland City FC
Star players
MID Angel Di Maria (Benfica, $7.3m) – 17 points
MID Leandro Barreiro (Benfica, $5.6m) – 17 points
FWD Vangelis Pavlidis (Benfica, $7.8m) – 11 points
Low returns
MID Mario Ilich (Auckland, $5.0m) – 2 points
MID Kerem Akturkoglu (Benfica, $7.2m) – 3 points
MID Fredrik Aursnes (Benfica, $6.2m) – 3 points
CR Flamengo 3-1 Chelsea FC
Star players
DEF Danilo (Flamengo, $5.1m) – 11 points
FWD Bruno Henrique (Flamengo, $6.1m) – 11 points
MID Gonzalo Plata (Flamengo, $5.6m) – 10 points
Low returns
FWD Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea, $7.4m) | -1 point
DEF Marc Cucurella (Chelsea, $5.8m) – 0 points
FWD Liam Delap (Chelsea, $6.0m) - 1 point
LAFC 0-1 Espérance
Star players
GK Bechir Ben Said (Espérance, $4.5m) – 12 points
MID Youcef Belaili (Espérance, $5.6m) – 10 points
DEF Yassine Meriah (Espérance, $4.8m) – 9 points
Low returns
FWD Denis Bouanga (LAFC, $7.0m) - 2 points
FWD Rodrigo Rodrigues (Espérance, $6.0m) – 2 points
FWD Olivier Giroud (LAFC, $6.5m) – 2 points
FC Bayern München 2-1 CA Boca Juniors
Star players
FWD Harry Kane (Bayern, $11.0m) – 10 points
FWD Miguel Merentiel (Boca, $6.2m) – 9 points
MID Michael Olise (Bayern, $9.4m) – 9 points
Low returns
MID Jamal Musiala (Bayern, $9.2m) – 1 point
FWD Thomas Muller (Bayern, $7.0m) – 1 point
DEF Raphael Guerreiro (Bayern, $5.8m) – 2 points
Next up (Saturday 21 June)
Mamelodi Sundown FC v Borussia Dortmund
FC Internazionale Milano v Urawa Red Diamonds
Fluminense FC v Ulsan HD
CA River Plate v CF Monterrey
Highest owned players in action
DEF Denzel Dumfries (Inter, $6.3m) – 29.3%
GK Yann Sommer (Inter, $5.4m) – 25.9%
MID Franco Mastantuono (River, $4.3m) – 21.8%
GK Franco Armani (River, $4.0m) – 16.3%
FWD Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund, $9.0m) – 15.4%
Differentials
Having conceded just once in their past four outings in all competitions, including a solid 0-0 against Borussia Dortmund in their Club World Cup opener, investment in the Fluminense FC defence could well be a savvy move.
Keeper Fabio ($4.6m) and imperious defender Thiago Silva ($4.7) are both under the mark for the scouting bonus and the latter also offers a scoring threat that could see them profit against Korea Republic side Ulsan HD.
With many considering playing the 12th man booster goals could well be the target and on that front, Dortmund pair Julian Brandt ($6.5m) and Karim Adeyemi ($8.0m) at 4.7% and 9.3% ownership respectively certainly stand out.
