One of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Virgil van Dijk will be named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year after making the three-man shortlist.
The winner will be announced – alongside the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year – during the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday, August 29.
Van Dijk is up for the award following a fine time of late with Liverpool, playing an influential role as they won the Champions League before going on to win the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
The 28-year-old imposing centre-back also reached the UEFA Nations League final with Holland earlier in the summer, where they were beaten by Portugal.
Messi, meanwhile, finished top goalscorer in the Champions League and picked up the European Golden Shoe, as well as claiming his 10th La Liga title with Barcelona.
Barcelona’s Champions League run was ended by Van Dijk’s Liverpool in the most incredible of circumstances.
Messi spearheaded Barcelona to a 3-0 first-leg victory at the Nou Camp, scoring twice including a stunning free kick.
But Liverpool overturned the deficit with a stunning 4-0 triumph at Anfield.
Ronaldo made the shortlist after claiming his first Serie A title with Juventus following his £100m move from Real Madrid, where he scored 28 goals in his first season in Italy.
Juventus reached the quarter-final of the Champions League before being defeated by surprise package Ajax.
After the end of the club season, Ronaldo led Portugal to Nations League glory, where he was named top scorer at the finals.
The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 managers of clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2018-19 Champions League and Europa League, along with 55 journalists, one from each of UEFA’s member associations.
Jury members chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one.
Managers are not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
REST OF THE TOP 10
4) Alisson Becker (Liverpool & Brazil) – 57 points
5) Sadio Mane (Liverpool & Senegal) – 51 points
6) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 49 points
7) Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid & Belgium) – 38 points
8) Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus & Netherlands) – 27 points
9) Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona & Netherlands) – 27 points
10) Raheem Sterling (Manchester City & England) – 12 points
