The new season has begun for a number of leagues across Europe and with that comes the various awards that will be handed out to some of the best performers during the past campaign.
While every year the best of the best are selected on the performances that they make in Europe and in their respective domestic competitions but this summer we also had the Champions League which will play a huge role in determining a number of awards.
And after weeks of debate amongst fans UEFA have officially released their shortlist of the players that have been nominated for the Player of the Year award:
3. Mo Salah(Premier League):
Hardly a shocker, especially after the fairy tale season that the Egyptian had during the 2017-18 campaign. Scoring 32 goals in the Premier League and 10 more in the Champions League, the Liverpool man was on everyone’s list to make it to the final short-list of the Player of the Year awards. Mo Salah did not have a pretty good World Cup with might affect his chances of winning the trophy.
UEFA Champions League
Appearances: 13 (excludes play-offs)
Goals: 10
Assists: 5
Domestic league
Appearances: 36
Goals: 32
Honours:
UEFA Champions League runner-up.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo(Formerly La Liga and now Serie A):
The Portuguese sensation seems to be getting younger with each passing day and the former Real Madrid star ended the previous season on yet another trophy-laden high.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 41 goals in total in the La Liga and the Champions League and with that, the forward managed to lift his third consecutive Champions League trophy.
UEFA Champions League
Appearances: 13
Goals: 15
Assists: 3
Domestic league
Appearances: 27
Goals: 26
Honours:
UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup.
1. Luka Modric(La Liga):
Easily the most successful in this list of top three, Luka Modric might have ended the World Cup on the losing side but the Croatian had a superb personal season which saw him reach the World Cup final, Win the Golden Ball in Russia and win the Champions League trophy.
UEFA Champions League
Appearances: 11
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
Domestic League
Appearances: 26
Goals: 1
Honours:
UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA World Cup runner-up
But the big absentee from the list is definitely Barcelona’s Lionel Messi who finished fifth on the top ten list with 52 points. The player above him in fourth place is Antoine Griezmann who collected a total of 72 points.
And Messi’s omission from the top three is a clear indication of the poor campaigns that he had with both Argentina and Barcelona – in the World Cup and the Champions League respectively.
