Jim Knight picks his squad for this week’s Champions League matches to compete for a guaranteed £400 prize pool and has included players from new arrivals at Galatasaray

With another round of Champions League fixtures upon us there’s a great opportunity to get involved in Totel Football and be in the running for a prize pool which is guaranteed to be at least £400. With four fixtures to pick from there’s the opportunity to select some of Europe’s best players in your team. Here’s hoping that this side is good enough to get me a place in the money.

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Goalkeeper

Manuel Neuer

Bayern have been in fantastic form after the winter break and defensively they’ve been outstanding.

In the five matches since the turn of the year in the Bundesliga, they’ve not conceded a single goal and have scored 13 goals in that time.

Arsenal know they need a positive result at Emirates Stadium but it’s going to be a tough task on Tuesday to trouble Manuel Neuer and his defence.

Defenders

Martin Demichelis

It’s a tough ask to find defenders who will keep clean sheets when you only have four fixtures to pick from so I’ve gone down the line of goal scoring potential in some cases. Demichelis has three goals to his name for Malaga so far this season so is worth including in this week’s team.

Phillip Lahm

As with the Manuel Neuer selection in terms of justification, Lahm has been part of a Bayern defence that has racked up the clean sheets in 2013 and you have to go back to mid-December before you find a Totel Football gameweek where he scored less than nine points. That’s impressive. He also offers some potential assist point potential if he gets forward.

Jordi Alba

The Barcelona full-back has two goals this season and with the first leg of their match being played away, the emphasis will be more on ensuring AC Milan aren’t able to take an advantage back to the Nou Camp in three weeks’ time. Alba has numerous scores in double figures this season so he’s defender number three.

Nicholas Otamendi

The 25-year-old Argentina international was part of the Porto team which recorded four clean sheets from six Champions League group games and conceded just once in their last five domestic matches too, and with first legs often close, tight encounters, he’s the final defender of this week’s Champions League starting XI.

Midfielders

Theo Walcott

If Arsenal are to get some joy against a stern Bayern defence then one man who’s worth including in Totel Football is Theo Walcott. Because he’s listed as a midfielder but is often deployed in a much more attacking role, he has a better chance of scoring goals, which will also count for more points because of his classification. 11 goals and eight assists aren’t bad stats for the season either.

Lucho Gonzalez

The Porto midfielder has three double figure scores in Totel Football from his Champions League exploits in the group stages. Two goals and two assists make him a good inclusion for Tuesday’s clash with Malaga where the home side will be expected to play on the offensive.

Wesley Sneijder

The Netherlands international moved to Turkey from Inter in the January transfer window and has the chance to compete in the Champions League for the first time this season. He is a very talented player and Galatasaray will be hoping he can begin to repay their faith in him by helping them get the better of Schalke.

Isco

While Malaga have been forced to sell some of their star assets in recent months, Isco is one of the players who remains at the club and he’s shown his talents in this campaign. The goalscoring midfielder has three tallies of nine points or more in his last four matches and looks worth including considering he is rarely booked and has also scored six goals so far this season.

Forwards

Lionel Messi

The Barcelona frontman has some huge point scores in Totel Football, he very rarely scores below 10 points and with 33 goals and nine assists he averages 12.5 points per game and there’s no way I could select a team for this week’s fixtures and not include the four-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba is another high-profile arrival at Galatasaray and the 34-year-old was one of Chelsea’s star performers in this competition last season and the Turkish side will hope that the Cote d’Ivoire international can reproduce that kind of form against Schalke on Wednesday.

Jim’s starting XI

Manuel Neuer; Martin Demichelis, Phillip Lahm, Jordi Alba, Nicholas Otamendi; Theo Walcott, Lucho Gonzalez, Wesley Sneijder, Isco; Lionel Messi, Didier Drogba.

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