On Friday, UEFA announced the 12 players, three per position, who could win the individual prizes on August 26.
The 12 players each received the most points in each positional category following a jury vote. The jury comprised coaches from the 32 clubs that entered into the group stage last season, as well as 55 journalists representing UEFA’s 55 member associations. Coaches could not vote for players from their own teams.
Messi came fourth in the poll for the best forwards, while Ronaldo did not make the top 10. Each player was eliminated at the last-16 stage, Barcelona losing to Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus to Porto.
Five of the 12 nominees are from Chelsea, who won their second Champions League by beating Manchester City in the final. Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are all nominated.
City have three representatives – Ederson, Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne – while beaten semi-finalists Real Madrid and PSG provide one each: Thibaut Courtois, and Kylian Mbappe.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, who finished as top scorer last season with 10, are the other nominees.
The winners of the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward prizes will be announced at the group-stage draw in Istanbul in two weeks’ time.
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