Who wins the UEFA Best Player Award?

Barcelona duo of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and Real Madrid’s prolific hit man Cristiano Ronaldo are the three nominees for the 2014/15 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. The winner will be announced on 27 August.

Seasoned journalists from each of UEFA’s 54 member associations provided a list of their five best-ranked players, with the first receiving five points, the second four, and so on. The ten players with the most points advanced to the second vote, which has determined the three finalists named today.

The jury will then cast their votes for the outright winner during the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 27 August.

Lionel Messi (2011), Andrés Iniesta (2012), Franck Ribéry (2013) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2014).

 

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

The Argentina captain broke Telmo Zarra’s record of 251 Liga goals with a hat trick against Sevilla on 22 November; finished Barcelona’s treble-winning term with 58 strikes in all competitions, including a double in the Blaugrana’s Copa del Rey final victory against Athletic Club.

Messi ended the UEFA Champions League campaign with ten-goal joint-top scorer along with Ronaldo and club-mate Neymar. Level with Ronaldo on 77 UEFA Champions League goals and 80 in UEFA club competition after the 2015 UEFA Super Cup.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

The Portuguese is the leading marksman in the Spanish Liga with 48 goals and the joint-top UEFA Champions League scorer. His output of 61 on all fronts for Madrid was his career-best from a season in which he leapfrogged Alfredo Di Stéfano into second place on the club’s all-time top scores list.

The three-time FIFA best player notched five in a match for the first time as the Whites defeated Granada 9-1 on 5 April. Finished the campaign with three successive hat tricks against Espanyol, Getafe and Armenia.

 

Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

On target twice in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg against Manchester City, his first return to England since leaving Liverpool.

Formed a devastating three-pronged strike force with Neymar and Messi, which yielded 122 goals in all competitions, and began this season by scoring in the UEFA Super Cup win against Sevilla.