Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk have been nominated for the 2018/19 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award.
The winner will be named during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on August 29. The UEFA Europa League Player of the Season will be announced the following day.
Barcelona magician Messi was the top goalscorer in the Champions League last season and the European Golden Shoe winner picked up his tenth Liga title.
Perennial rival Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Juventus and helped the Bianconeri lift an eighth-straight Scudetto while he also guided Portugal to the inaugural UEFA Nations League title, during which he also finished top goalscorer at the finals.
Van Dijk led Liverpool to a sixth Champions League title and also featured in the Nations League final, where the Netherlands lost 1-0 to Ronaldo and Co.
The rest of the top 10 were: 4 Alisson Becker (Liverpool/Brazil) 57 points; 5 Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal) 51 points; 6 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt) 49 points; 7 Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid/Belgium) 38 points; 8= Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus/Netherlands) and Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona/Netherlands) 27 points; 10 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City/England) 12 points.
Raheem Sterling and Virgil van Dijk are in the top 10 nominees, with Van Dijk vying with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the award.
For this award, players in Europe, irrespective of nationality, have been judged in regard to their performances over the whole season in all competitions – both domestically and internationally – at either club, or national team level.
The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2018/19 Champions League and Europa League, along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each of UEFA’s member associations.
Jury members chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The other award shortlists include Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson Becker, Hugo Lloris, Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Defender of the Season: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk; Midfielder of the Season: Frenkie de Jong, Christian Eriksen, Jordan Henderson; Forward of the Season: Sadio Mane, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo; Women’s Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry and Europa League Player of the Season: Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic.