• Messi not listed
Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are on the three-man shortlist for the 2017-18 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award, but Lionel Messi has been overlooked.
Salah has been nominated after finishing runner-up with Liverpool in last season’s Champions League.The Egyptian winger scored an incredible 44 goals in his debut season at Liverpool, just three shy of Ian Rush’s club-record seasonal haul.
Ronaldo was nominated after winning a record fifth Champions League title – his third in straight succession for Real Madrid – and finishing top scorer in the competition for a sixth season running.And finally, Modric enjoyed a fantastic season, winning the Champions League alongside Ronaldo, as well as finishing runner up at the World Cup and claiming the Golden Ball.
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But there was no space on the shortlist for Barcelona star Messi, who was dumped out of Europe’s top competition to Roma in the last-eight stage. The award recognises the top players featuring for a club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the past season.
The stars are judged on their displays in all competitions, at domestic, continental and international level.The three-man shortlist was chosen by 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of last term’s Champions League and Europa League, as well as 50 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group.
The members of the jury chose their best three players, with first place getting five points, the second three and the third one.The shortlist was announced on Monday afternoon and the winner will be revealed during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 30 August.On the same day, the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year and UEFA Champions League positional award will also be announced.
Source: G Sport
