Champions Manager Spillerunde 1: captain and best buys

Champions Manager Spillerunde 1 preview: best buys, captain picks and hidden gems

Champions Manager 2026-2027 is open, and the Champions League league phase starts with 18 matches spread across three nights - 8, 9 and 10 September. Spillerunde 1 has an unusual shape, and it is the whole story of this round: the draw has handed four clubs a genuine mismatch, while most of the marquee names have been drawn against each other. That means the two most expensive players in the game are not close to being the best picks this week.

All eleven players in your team score every round here, so every slot matters and there is nowhere to hide a punt. Below are the best buys by position, the ranked captain options, the cheap picks the field will miss, and the premiums worth leaving out of your opening team. You can cross-check every number against the live Champions Manager player picks.

Spillerunde 1 fixtures: where the goals actually are

Four home teams are priced as heavy favourites, and they are where the round is won. Paris Saint-Germain host Slovan Bratislava at a 93% win probability with 3.74 expected goals and a 67% clean sheet chance - the single best fixture profile in the round on every measure. Barcelona - Feyenoord follows at 88% and 3.64 expected goals, Bayern München host Bodø/Glimt at 87% with the highest expected goals of the lot (3.81), and Manchester United take on Sabah FK at 86%.

The last two rows are the trap. Manchester City travel to FC Porto, who have the best defensive record of any club in this field - 0.79 expected goals conceded per game and 28 clean sheets in their last 52. Real Madrid host Inter, and Inter concede just 0.96 expected goals per game. Both look like top-of-the-market fixtures and are mid-table fixtures in reality. You can check the round’s underlying market yourself on the Champions Manager market probabilities page.

The teams to avoid entirely in Spillerunde 1: Atletico Madrid away at Liverpool (19% win probability), Inter at Real Madrid (20%), Napoli hosting Arsenal (21%), Villarreal at Borussia Dortmund (23%) and LASK at AEK Athens (23%). The full three-night schedule is on the Champions Manager schedule.

Best goalkeepers for Spillerunde 1

Matvey Safonov (5.5m, Paris Saint-Germain) - 123k, and he is the only keeper in the round attached to a 67% clean sheet chance. That number is not a quirk of one fixture: Paris Saint-Germain have kept 24 clean sheets in their last 56 games at 1.04 expected goals conceded per game, and Slovan Bratislava arrive with a negative net expected-goal difference (-0.26 per game). One caution worth stating plainly - the model has Matvey Safonov starting, not Lucas Chevalier, whose projection for the round is negative. Confirm it on predicted lineups before the deadline.

Fabian Bredlow (4.0m, VfB Stuttgart) - 93k on a 40% clean sheet chance is the value play, and at 1.5m less than Matvey Safonov he is the better points-per-million bet (23.1 against 22.3). Senne Lammens (4.5m, Manchester United) takes 104k on a 50% clean sheet, the second-best in the round. The reservation: Manchester United themselves concede 1.30 expected goals per game and have only 8 clean sheets in their last 43, so the fixture is carrying that projection rather than the defence.

Cheapest route in: Matej Kovar (3.5m, PSV Eindhoven) at 83k for a 23.7 points-per-million return, and Thomas Strakosha (3.0m, AEK Athens) at 70k. If you would rather own a keeper you never think about again, Alisson Becker (4.5m, Liverpool) is the steadiest six-round hold in the position - 73k now, but a decay-weighted 270 across Spillerunde 1-6, the best in the position at his price.

Best defenders for Spillerunde 1

The defence section is short, because one club owns it. Nuno Mendes (5.0m, Paris Saint-Germain) projects 168k and Achraf Hakimi (5.5m, Paris Saint-Germain) 166k - the two highest-scoring defenders in the round, by some distance. Both are attacking full-backs on a 66% clean sheet, which is why they beat their own centre-backs: Achraf Hakimi has produced 0.40 expected goal involvements per 90 across his last 51 games, nearly all of it creation (12.29 xA), and Nuno Mendes 0.39 over 49 games.

You are allowed four players from one club in Champions Manager, so a Paris Saint-Germain block is legal and this is the round to use it. The cheaper members of the same clean sheet: Marquinhos (4.5m) at 131k and Willian Pacho (4.5m) at 111k. Away from Paris Saint-Germain, Alphonso Davies (4.0m, Bayern München) takes 122k for a 63.6 weighted points-per-million - the best of any defender above 4m - and Jules Koundé (5.0m, Barcelona) is 117k on a 47% clean sheet.

Budget defenders. This is where Spillerunde 1 is genuinely decided, and VfB Stuttgart supply three of them. Josha Vagnoman (3.0m) is 111k - a 37.1 points-per-million return this round and 68.9 on the weighted six-round score, the best of any defender in the game. Jeff Chabot (2.5m) takes 86k, and Maximilian Mittelstaedt (4.0m) 126k while holding a 91% penalty share, which is a rare thing in a defender. Harry Maguire (3.5m, Manchester United) rounds it out at 112k on a 47% clean sheet. All four cost under 40k in fee to sell again, so buying one purely for this round is a perfectly sensible move.

One nuance on VfB Stuttgart: they concede 1.46 expected goals per game, the leakiest record of any club with a soft opener. Take their attacking full-backs and their forwards - do not buy them expecting the clean sheet. The genuine clean-sheet differential is Arsenal, away at Napoli: a 38% clean sheet chance, second-best in the round, behind 0.80 expected goals conceded per game and 34 clean sheets in their last 66, the best defensive record in the field. Ezri Konsa (3.5m) at 60k is the cheap way in, and Napoli manage only 1.33 expected goals per game themselves.

Best midfielders for Spillerunde 1

Ismael Saibari (5.5m, Bayern München) is the standout pick of the entire round, not just the position. He projects 208k in Spillerunde 1, but the number that matters is the weighted six-round score of 496 - the highest of any midfielder in the game, at a price where the next four names cost 6.0m or more. That is a 90.2 weighted points-per-million and nobody else in the position clears 80. The underlying case is real too: 0.71 expected goal involvements per 90 and 27 goals across his last 58 games.

Lamine Yamal (7.5m, Barcelona) - 213k, with a trajectory of 213k, 112k, 59k, 126k, 141k, 102k across the next six rounds for a weighted 488. He is the premium midfielder whose program holds up best. Luis Diaz (6.5m, Bayern München) matches him this round at 213k for a full point less, with a weighted 484 and a 74.4 weighted points-per-million - on value he is the better of the two.

Bruno Fernandes (6.5m, Manchester United) takes 209k and carries a 94% penalty share into the softest fixture available to any midfielder, which is why he outscores players costing more. He has 18.45 xG and 18.55 xA over his last 53 games - a 0.73 xGI90 - so the creation is as reliable as the goals. Bryan Mbeumo (6.0m) is beside him at 202k. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (8.0m, Paris Saint-Germain) is 210k and the highest-priced midfielder worth owning, though at 26.3 points-per-million he is the least efficient of this group. Michael Olise (7.5m, Bayern München) - 198k, weighted 450, with 33.89 xA over his last 71 games behind it.

Budget midfielders. Ruben van Bommel (3.0m, PSV Eindhoven) is the pick - 120k, a 40.1 points-per-million return that is the best in the position, and 0.82 expected goal involvements per 90 in his sample so far. Guus Til (4.0m, PSV Eindhoven) is 137k, Grischa Prömel (3.5m, VfB Stuttgart) 118k, Chris Führich (4.0m, VfB Stuttgart) 110k, and Paul Wanner (2.5m, PSV Eindhoven) 87k for the cheapest starting midfielder worth a slot. Nico Paz (5.0m, Como) at 116k is the option if you want a mid-priced name outside the obvious clubs - Como host RB Leipzig as slight favourites, and a weighted 318 says he holds a place in your team for months rather than weeks.

Best forwards for Spillerunde 1

Harry Kane (9.5m, Bayern München) tops the round at 235k, and he is the one genuine premium worth paying for in Spillerunde 1. Bayern München carry 2.90 expected goals per game and a +1.61 net expected-goal difference - the best attacking profile in the competition - and he holds a 93% penalty share on top of 1.06 expected goal involvements per 90 across his last 67 games. His six-round trajectory: 235k, 131k, 83k, 87k, 101k, 148k, weighted 518.

Raphinha (7.0m, Barcelona) is the better buy on value: 231k, only 4k behind Harry Kane for 2.5m less, which is a 70.3 weighted points-per-million against 54.5. He has an 86% penalty share and 1.01 expected goal involvements per 90 over his last 42 games. Ousmane Dembélé (8.0m, Paris Saint-Germain) takes 197k with a 0.89 xGI90 behind it, and Serhou Guirassy (6.5m, Borussia Dortmund) is 171k with the strongest three-round total of any forward outside the top two (443k) at a 71.6 weighted points-per-million.

Deniz Undav (5.5m, VfB Stuttgart) - 179k, and a 0.90 xGI90 across 55 games is the best underlying record of any forward under 6m. Matheus Cunha (4.5m, Manchester United) is the mid-price pick at 175k, a 38.8 points-per-million return that no forward above 4m beats this round.

Who to captain in Spillerunde 1

Your captain scores double in Champions Manager, so this is the single biggest decision of the round.

The pick is Harry Kane. He is top of the model, he takes the penalties, and the fixture behind him carries the highest expected goals of any team in the round. If you would rather not spend 9.5m on a forward, Raphinha is 4k behind on the projection and frees up 2.5m elsewhere, while Lamine Yamal and Luis Diaz are the mid-priced armband options, both on 213k. Captaincy is a plan rather than a one-round choice, and it is worth noting Harry Kane is also the best captain option in Spillerunde 6 (148k) while Lamine Yamal peaks in Spillerunde 5 (141k) - the two split the next six rounds neatly between them.

Hidden gems and differentials for Spillerunde 1

Ownership is barely formed in the opening round - no player in the game is owned by more than 0.5% of teams yet - so the edge here is not low ownership, it is that the field will default to the famous names and pay for them. These are the cheap picks the model rates and the market has not caught up with.

Dzenan Pejcinovic (3.5m, VfB Stuttgart) is the best value pick in the entire game right now. He projects 169k against Viking, a 48.4 points-per-million return this round and a 91.2 weighted points-per-million over six - the highest figure of any player at any position. He has 14 goals from 1,828 minutes across his last 35 games at a 0.62 xGI90. At 3.5m the fee to sell him again is 35k, so this is a defensible one-round buy even if you never want him long-term.

Barnabas Varga (3.0m, AEK Athens) - 111k, a 37.0 points-per-million return, and AEK Athens host LASK as favourites with 2.40 expected goals per game and a +1.14 net expected-goal difference behind them. His finishing record is the reason to trust it: 18 goals from 1,633 minutes over 21 games, a 0.75 xGI90. Team-mate Luka Jovic (3.5m) is marginally ahead on the projection at 114k if you prefer the bigger name.

Anastasios Douvikas (4.5m, Como) at 122k and Ricardo Pepi (4.5m, PSV Eindhoven) at 154k are the two cheap forwards attached to winnable home games - Ricardo Pepi with an 87% penalty share and a 0.88 xGI90 over 45 games, which is elite for the price. Ivan Perisic (3.5m, PSV Eindhoven) at 92k is the same fixture one position further back.

Nicolo Tresoldi (4.0m, Club Brugge) deserves a mention for a different reason. His Spillerunde 1 fixture is a coin-flip - Club Brugge host Aston Villa at a 34% win probability - but he projects 106k anyway on a 93% penalty share, and his weighted six-round score of 325 at an 81.3 weighted points-per-million is the second-best in the game. He is a three-round buy rather than a one-week punt.

Two names to write down for next round rather than this one. Florian Thauvin (4.0m, Lens) has a weighted 302 and a 94% penalty share, but Lens travel to Slavia Prague at only 36% this week, and his 88k is the weakest round of his next six. Antony (3.5m, Real Betis) is worse still right now: 49k, a rotation risk on the model’s numbers, and Real Betis away at Lille at 30%. His remaining five rounds read 84k, 88k, 61k, 93k and 80k, so he is a genuinely good buy - from Spillerunde 2 onwards.

Who to leave out of your Spillerunde 1 team

Nobody has sold anything yet, so this is a leave-out list rather than a sell list - but it matters more in the opening round than in any other, because these are exactly the players a first team gravitates towards.

The two headline names are worth being precise about, because neither is a bad player - they are simply bad Spillerunde 1 buys. Kylian Mbappé climbs to 155k in Spillerunde 3 and 183k in Spillerunde 5, and Erling Haaland to 194k in Spillerunde 3 when Manchester City host AEK Athens. Both hold the highest weighted six-round scores of any forward in the game (524 and 513). Buy them when their fixtures turn, not now - and at 10.0m and 9.5m the fee to correct the mistake later is roughly 100k and 95k, which is most of a good round from a cheap defender.

Also worth avoiding for one week only: the rotation risks. Karim Adeyemi, Anthony Gordon and Fermin Lopez all sit in the Barcelona squad on projections that assume they do not start, and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) is the same story behind a 146k projection that looks better than it is. A player the model expects to come off the bench cannot be trusted in an eleven-man team with nothing behind it.

Spillerunde 1 comes down to a simple decision: take Paris Saint-Germain for the clean sheet, Bayern München and Barcelona for the attack, and fund it with the cheap VfB Stuttgart and PSV Eindhoven players instead of a second nine-million forward. The model solves the exact optimum live on the optimal teams for Champions Manager page, and every projection above moves as team news lands - so re-check the predicted lineups on the morning of your match, and the player picks table for the final numbers.

This is the first round of the league phase, so there is no previous Champions Manager preview to look back on. Every future round will be collected in the Champions Manager preview hub, and if you are new to the game, start with our Champions Manager strategy guide or browse all of our fantasy football guides.

FAQ

Who should I captain in Champions Manager Spillerunde 1?

Harry Kane (Bayern München, 9.5m). He is top of the model at 235k for the round, which doubles to 470k with the armband, he holds a 93% penalty share, and Bayern München carry the highest expected goals of any team in Spillerunde 1 (3.81) at home to Bodø/Glimt. Raphinha (231k) and Lamine Yamal (213k) are the alternatives if you would rather not spend 9.5m on a forward.

Which budget players are best for Champions Manager Spillerunde 1?

Dzenan Pejcinovic (3.5m, VfB Stuttgart) at 169k is the best value pick in the game - a 48.4 points-per-million return this round. Behind him: Barnabas Varga (3.0m, AEK Athens) at 111k, Ruben van Bommel (3.0m, PSV Eindhoven) at 120k, Josha Vagnoman (3.0m, VfB Stuttgart) at 111k and Jeff Chabot (2.5m, VfB Stuttgart) at 86k. All five cost under 40k in fee to sell again.

Should I buy Kylian Mbappé for Spillerunde 1?

No - wait a round or two. He is the most expensive player in the game at 10.0m and projects only 167k this round, a 16.7 points-per-million return, because Real Madrid host an Inter side that concedes just 0.96 expected goals per game. His numbers jump to 155k in Spillerunde 3 and 183k in Spillerunde 5, so he is a buy once the fixtures turn.

Is Erling Haaland a good pick in Champions Manager Spillerunde 1?

Not this round. Manchester City travel to FC Porto, who concede 0.79 expected goals per game and have 28 clean sheets in their last 52 - the best defensive record in the competition. He projects 163k at 9.5m. Spillerunde 3 is the round to own him: 194k at home to AEK Athens.

How many players can I have from one team in Champions Manager?

Four. That makes a Paris Saint-Germain block legal in Spillerunde 1, and this is the round to use it - Matvey Safonov, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are all attached either to the round’s best clean sheet (66-67%) or to its best overall fixture profile.

This preview was written by TheFantasyTool AI - verified by Nicolai @ TheFantasyTool