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With just over two weeks to go until the draws for this season's Champions League are made, UEFA released its final three nominees for the coveted Best Men's Player award. The winner is to be revealed on the night of the draws at a gala on August 29.
The award is given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best performer in the preceding year at both club and international level, with the only criterion being that said player must represent a club in Europe.
The award is handed out by UEFA in association with European Sports Media, and is into its ninth year (third year in its current format) and has Luka Modric as its current winner, while Cristiano Ronaldo with three wins is the record winner of the accolade.
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The judging process is decided by a representative journalist from each of UEFA's 54 member nations, in addition to the 80 coaches who managed in the preceding season of European club football.
Each coach and journalist is asked to vote for their top three choices, with each player receiving five points for every first place vote, three for second and one point for a third-placed finish.
The three players with the highest number of votes are revealed, with the winner unveiled when the Champions League and Europa League draws are made.
This year, UEFA shortlisted Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk for the award, and in this piece, we shall be ranking the three nominees in order of their worthiness of the award.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal)
Though many would term last season as a failure by Cristiano Ronaldo's lofty standards, the Portuguese icon still managed to score 28 goals and register 10 assists for Juventus in all competitions which is not bad for a 34-year-old.
He failed to inspire the Bianconeri to Champions League glory which is the primary reason he was signed, but still helped Juventus to league and Super Cup victories.
There were a number of highlights during his debut season in Italy, with his hat-trick heroics in the Round of 16 of the Champions League against Atletico Madrid and match-winning goal against AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup standing out.
On the international scene, he also scored a 53rd career hat-trick to fire Portugal into the final of the maiden edition of the Nations League, also captaining them to victory over the Netherlands in the final on home soil.
#2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)
Lionel Messi had one of the best individual campaigns of his illustrious career last season as he finished with 51 goals and 22 assists from just 50 matches in all competitions for Barcelona, which came at a staggering goal involvement ratio of 1.46 goals per match. Besides, he also won a record sixth European Golden Shoe as well as the Champions League Golden Boot for the fifth time.
These are not regular numbers, and the Rosario native would have been the overwhelming favourite for this award had Barcelona not suffered an embarrassing elimination to Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Messi saw his chances further hampered with his no-show on the field and shameful outburst at the 2019 Copa America, but despite these, he is still in the running to win this award for the third time.
#1 Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk is the overwhelming favourite to triumph in most of the individual awards, and rightly so, as the 28-year-old's performances over the last year have been stupendous to say the least.
Having joined Liverpool for a record-breaking sum in January 2018, the Dutch international has more than justified his fee with calm and confident displays at the heart of defense.
Last season, he was the stalwart of a Liverpool defense that conceded just 22 goals and kept 21 clean sheets, playing all but 28 minutes of the season as Jurgen Klopp's men pushed Manchester City all the way in what was one of the tightest Premier League races in history.
Van Dijk was incredible, making 3,037 passes (which was the second most in the league last season), while also attempting 38 tackles with a 74% success rate and making 199 clearances and 193 recoveries, and was voted as the PFA Player of the Year for his efforts.
He was also famously not dribbled past last season, as he helped Liverpool to their sixth Champions League trophy, in addition to captaining his nation to the final of the UEFA Nations League.
