Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi will not be the next UEFA Men’s Player of the Year
Cristiano Ronaldo was joined by former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric and Liverpool’s Mo Salah on the three-man shortlist for the award, which was released on Monday.
Ronaldo left Real for Juventus in the summer, having played an instrumental role in the Spanish club’s third Champions League success on the spin. Modric was also a major factor in this success and followed it by helping Croatia to a World Cup final – winning the Golden Ball in the process. Salah was the top scorer in his first season back in English football, helping Liverpool to the Champions League final in Kiev. The Egyptian was also voted PFA and Football Writers’ Player of the Season.
It’s now been revealed that Messi, who has contested virtually every major individual award in the men’s game with Ronaldo over the last decade, only came fifth on the list.
UEFA has released the remaining names to have made the top ten, revealing that the Argentine missed out on fourth to Atletico Madrid’s French international, Antoine Griezmann.
80 coaches from clubs that participated in last season’s Champions League and Europa League were joined by 55 journalists in deciding on which players featured in the list. Each selecting their top three players, their rankings were determined using a scoring system of five points for first pick, three points for second and one for third.
Kylian Mbappe, Griezmann’s World Cup-winning international teammate, finished beneath Messi in sixth. Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne was the second highest-ranked Premier League star in seventh, with Eden Hazard of Chelsea the next highest in ninth.
Real Madrid defensive duo Raphael Varane (eighth) and Sergio Ramos (tenth) were positioned either side in the top ten.
The winner fo the award will be announced on August 30, prior to the group stage draw for the Champions League.
