Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez Up for UEFA's Best Player in Europe
Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo have been nominated for the 2014-15 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, with the winner of the award to be announced on Thursday, August 27, per UEFA.com.
The trio advanced to the final voting round, beating out Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Barcelona forward Neymar and Chelsea forward Eden Hazard. Barcastuff shared the full list of nominees:
"Ranking: Best Player in Europe (except for three final nominees; votes by 54 journalists from uefa countries) pic.twitter.com/8JPrmhnRXL
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 12, 2015"
Journalists from across Europe put together the initial list of nominees, and a jury will now cast its final votes during the draw for the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League group stage. Past winners include Messi and Ronaldo, along with Andres Iniesta and Franck Ribery.
Ronaldo won 2013-14's award and led La Liga in goals in 2014-15, scoring an incredible 48, per UEFA's report. The Portugal international failed to collect any major silverware, but he was always a lock to be nominated given his phenomenal scoring prowess.
Suarez missed the start of the campaign as a result of the suspension he was given in the wake of a biting incident with Giorgio Chiellini, per FIFA.com, but once he returned to the pitch, he formed a deadly attacking trio with Messi and Neymar.
Messi is the favourite to win this year's award, however, and football writer Cristian Nyari doesn't even think it's close:
The four-time Ballon d'Or winner became La Liga's all-time top scorer and led Barcelona to a treble-winning season, finishing with 58 goals across all competitions. His strong form carried over into the 2015-16 campaign, including two strikes during Barcelona's 5-4 win over Sevilla in the European Super Cup on Tuesday.
Barcelona's triumph in La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey will likely power Messi past Ronaldo, who finished the season empty-handed.
