One of Luka Modrić, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah will be named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year on 30 August. This is after UEFA released a final shortlist of the top three best players from last season.
What is puzzling is that Messi, who scored 45 goals in all competitions this season and led Barcelona to the La Liga title, failed to make the top three. UEFA explained that the nominee was a jury composed of 80 club head coaches who participated in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League last season and 55 European sports media (ESM). The team selected the representative of the UEFA member reporter.
Messi ranked fifth in the vote, Atletico Madrid’s Antonie Griezmann was fourth while the Brazilian Neymar seems to have been forgotten and did not even make the top 10. The order of the top three and the votes will be announced next week. The specific list is as follows:
Luca Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia): won the Champions League and won the runner-up in the World Cup, where he was nominated for the World Cup Golden Globe.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal): For the fifth time in his career, he won the Champions League with Real Madrid (who had been with Manchester United), but struggled in La Liga and the World Cup, leading the Portuguese in the World Cup. Flat Spain and scored in the top 16.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt): In the first season of the UK, Liverpool led the Champions League final and broke the Premier League scoring record.
4 to 10: Antonie Griezmann (A.MAdrid/France) 72 points, Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) 55 points, Mbape (PSG/France) 43 points, Kevin De Braune (Manchester City / Belgium) 28 points, Wallane (Real Madrid/France) 23 points, Azar (Chelsea/Belgium) 15 points, Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain) 12 points
Other awards:
The best goalkeeper of the season: Arison, Gianluigi Buffon, Kellore Navas
The best defender of the season: Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Rapal Varane
The best midfielder of the season: Kevin De Braune, Tony Nick Ross, Luca Modric
The best striker of the season: Rio Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Muhammad Salah
Female Player of the Year: Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry
Europa League Player of the Year: Godin, Gretzmann, Dimitri Payer