On Monday, August 20 UEFA revealed the shortlist for the 2017/2018 UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards, and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi isn’t even in the top four men’s players.
The little Argentine won the domestic double of the La Liga and Copa del Rey, scoring 34 goals in the league in the process.
However, that was not enough for the Barcelona forward to break into the top four European players. Antoine Griezemann, fresh of his World Cup win with France nabbed fourth place, keeping Messi at bay in fifth position.
On the women’s side of things, 2017 UEFA Women’s Player of the Year and Barcelona and Netherlands footballer Lieke Martens had to settle for seventh place, while English and Lyon midfielder Lucy Bronze ended up in fifth place.
Here is all you need to know about the UEFA Player of the Year Awards including when they are on, who’s made the men’s and women’s shortlists as well as a breakdown of how the judging process works.
Ronaldo has made the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year shortlist after another exceptional season
When are the UEFA Player of the Year Awards?
The winners of the Men’s and Women’s UEFA Players of the Year will be revealed on Thursday, August 30 in Monaco.
Men’s Player of the Year shortlist
The three players who received the most votes are, in alphabetical order: Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mo Salah.
Modric was praised for his performance at the 2018 World Cup, captaining his side and leading them to the final. The Croatian ultimately won the Player of the Tournament.
Meanwhile Ronaldo continues to defy his age by continuing to play at the elite level. The Portuguese player won his fifth Ballon d’Or, scored a total of 44 goals and won his third Champions League trophy in a row, fifth in total.
He also signed for Juventus in a £99 million deal that saw him leave Real Madrid with a sensational 450 goals in 438 games.
Liverpool’s Mo Salah is the highest-ranked Premier League player in the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, deservedly so after the Egyptian exploded onto the English footballing scene going on to score 32 goals in 36 Premier League games.
Salah also went on to score an impressive ten goals in the Champions League, although his participation in the Final was cut short following a shoulder injury.
Here are the remaining seven top ten players:
- Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid & France) – 72 points
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) – 55 points
- Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 43 points
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium) – 28 points
- Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid & France) – 23 points
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea & Belgium) – 15 points
- Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid & Spain) – 12 points
Women’s Player of the Year shortlist
The three players who received the most votes are, in alphabetical order: Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg and Amandine Henry.
Harder had an exceptional season, captaining Denmark and driving Wolfsburg to the Champions League Final, scoring 17 goals in 21 league appearances, and eight goals in eight Champions League games, as well as six assists.
Harder was mainly the Champions League runner-up due to the performances of Ada Hegerberg, who was in prolific form last season. The 2016 prize winner ended the 2017/18 season as the Women’s Champions League Winner and the French League winner, scoring a staggering 31 goals in 20 league games and 15 goals in 9 Champions League matches.
While Amandine Henry hasn’t scored anywhere near as many goals as the other two shortlisted players, her midfield performances changed games, most notably the Champions League Final when she scored the crucial equaliser in extra-time, ultimately being named player of the match.
Here are the remaining seven top ten players:
- Dzsenifer Marozsán (Lyon & Germany) – 32 points
- Lucy Bronze (Lyon & England) – 20 points
- Lieke Martens (Barcelona & Netherlands) – 17 points
- Wendie Renard (Lyon & France) – 16 points
- Fran Kirby (Chelsea & England) – 15 points
- Eugénie Le Sommer (Lyon & France) – 13 points
- Shanice van de Sanden (Lyon & Netherlands) – 7 points
UEFA Player of the Year Awards judging process
For the men’s side, the shortlist was selected by a jury comprised of 80 coaches of the clubs that took part in the Group Stages of the Champions League and Europa League, alongside 55 journalists chosen by the European Sports Media, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.
The judges picked their three players by allocating them five, three and one points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
On the women’s side the three players were voted on by the coaches of the 12 highest-ranked teams in the UEFA women’s team rankings, alongside coaches of the eight clubs that took part in the Champions League quarter finals. Twenty journalists chosen by ESM were also picked as judges.