Buffon, Messi, Ronaldo shortlisted for Player of the Year award
Italy's 39-year old veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, along with Argentine star footballer Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo have been nominated for the 2016-17 UEFA Men's Player of the Year. The award will be presented on 24th August at the group stage draw of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League season. Both Messi and Ronaldo have won the award twice.
Who nominates the players?
A jury of 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the recently concluded UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, along with 50 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group short-listed the players based on their performance in the past year.
The other players in the top 10 list
Apart from Buffon, Messi and Ronaldo, other players who have been nominated this time are Luka Modric (Croatia, Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Argentina, Juventus), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (France, Monaco), Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Bayern München), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Manchester United). None of the above players have won the award before.
Buffon's contribution in 2016-17
Even though Juventus lost to Real Madrid in the finals of this year's Champions League, Gianluigi Buffon has nine clean sheets from the 12 games he played during the tournament. He led Juventus to Serie A and Coppa Italia victories, a third consecutive domestic double. Buffon has also nominated for the best goalkeeper of the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League season.
A tough competition between Messi and Ronaldo
Two time winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both had a remarkable 2016-17 season. Ronaldo's Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League, Spanish Liga, FIFA Club World Cup. Moreover he became the first player to net 100 UEFA club competition goals and 100 Champions League goals. Messi will be remembered for his two Champions League hat-tricks, apart from helping Barcelona win Copa del Rey.
