Modric, Ronaldo and Salah... but no Messi for top UEFA prize
The Barcelona star has not made the final three for UEFA men's player of the year
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has not been nominated for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award, which will be given out at a ceremony in Monaco on August 30.
Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are the three players that have made the final shortlist for the prize.
UEFA explain that the nominees were selected “a jury composed of 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stages of the 2017/18 Champions League and Europa League, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.”
Messi was fifth in the voting, with Atletico Madrid and France forward also ahead of him. The positions of the top three will be revealed next week, but the rest of the top 10 has been confirmed by UEFA (see below).
Barça forward Messi had an impressive season, despite missing out on the top three. He led the club to a domestic double and scored 45 goals in all competitions.
🏅 #UEFAawards shortlist is here! 🏅
— UEFA (@UEFA) 20 de agosto de 2018
🙋♂️Men's Player of the Year 🙋♂️@lukamodric10 🗳️@Cristiano 🗳️@MoSalah 🗳️
Who will win in Monaco on August 30? https://t.co/DeivvW4dOq pic.twitter.com/YhcjsePZSc
THE nominEES
Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia). Won the Champions League and was a runner-up at the World Cup, where he was named Player of the Tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal). Won the Champions League with Real Madrid for the fifth time in his career (once with Manchester United) but struggled in La Liga and at the World Cup, save a brilliant performance against Spain.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt). A brilliant debut season in England, taking Liverpool to the Champions League final and breaking scoring records in the Premier League.
WHO ELSE WAS IN THE TOP 10?
4. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico/France) - 72 points
5. Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) - 55 points
6. Kylian Mbappe (PSG/France) - 43 points
7. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium) - 28 points
8. Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid/France) - 23 points
9. Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium) - 15 points
10. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain) - 12 points
OTHER PRIZES
Messi has been nominated in the forward of the year category. Here are the rest of the nominations:
Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson Becker, Gianluigi Buffon, Keylor Navas
Defender of the Season: Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphaël Varane
Midfielder of the Season: Kevin De Bruyne, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić
Forward of the Season: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah
Women's Player of the Year: Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry
Europa League Player of the Season: Diego Godín, Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet
