Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the nominees for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League awards, but Mohamed Salah was snubbed despite leading Liverpool to the title.
The positional awards were introduced by UEFA two years ago in order to “recognise the season’s best player in each position in Europe’s premier club competition”. An award is bestowed upon the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward for a particular season, with three nominees in each category.
Reigning champions and six-time winners Liverpool are the most represented club on the shortlist, with five players from the club featuring across the four positional categories. Captain Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk are chief among the Reds’ players, although there was no place for Salah.
Runners-up Tottenham Hotspur, who reached their first ever final in the competition in the 2018/19 campaign, have two representatives while the remaining five nominees hail from outside of the Premier League, including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
This year’s winners will be named during the UEFA Champions League draw on August 29. The UEFA Men’s Player of the Year and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year accolades will be awarded on the same day.
UEFA have also announced the three nominees for the Europa League Player of the Season award, with Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard (now at Real Madrid) and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic (also now at Los Blancos) making the final cut.
The players shortlisted for the award are;
GOALKEEPERS: Alisson Becker (Brazil – Liverpool FC); Hugo Lloris (France – Tottenham Hotspur FC); Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany – FC Barcelona)
DEFENDERS: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England – Liverpool FC); Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands – AFC Ajax, now Juventus); Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands – Liverpool FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands – AFC Ajax, now FC Barcelona); Christian Eriksen (Denmark – Tottenham Hotspur FC); Jordan Henderson (England – Liverpool FC)
FORWARDS: Sadio Mané (Senegal – Liverpool FC); Lionel Messi (Argentina – FC Barcelona); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal – Juventus)