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The UEFA Champions League draw is followed by the UEFA Best Player in Europe. And just as expected this year, Lionel Messi grabbed it with both hands, beating out Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez who made the shortlist of the final three. German and FFC Frankfurt striker Cecilia Sasic who retired earlier this year was the women’s recipient of the same award.
The award that was instated in 2011 when Lionel Messi first won it, the other winners of the same award are Andres Iniesta (2012), Franck Ribery (2013), and Cristiano Ronaldo (2014). Except for 2012, when Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League title, the rest of the winners of the award also won the prestigious European trophy.
The 2014/15 season saw Lionel Messi have a splendid individual and team season.The little magician scored 58 goals in 57 appearances for Barcelona, also adding 28 assists to that impressive tally. The Argentine was crucial to the Catalan club's treble-winning season. He formed a lethal partnership with Neymar and Luis Suarez on the back of which the club was able to build their fearsome reputation.
The nominees
Luis Suarez who was Messi’s partner in crime for the season was also among the top 3 who were nominated. He lost out on the big prize though despite his impressive statistics – racking up 31 goals and 23 assists despite missing a sizeable part of the season at the start due to his international ban from football for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup. Despite his great numbers, for the season, he paled next to the phenomenal one that Messi was having.
The other nominee Cristiano Ronaldo also put in a great shout claiming the Pichichi trophy with his 61 goals which was more than Lionel Messi’s tally but the voters seem to have considered the greater success that the Argentine had on the club front to be the deciding factor. The Portuguese forward only had a Club World Cup with Real Madrid to show for his efforts in comparison to Barcelona’s treble.
The top 10
The three who made it to the final shortlist were picked from a shortlist of 32, who were then reduced to a further 10 and then finally 3. The top 10 included the third wheel of Barcelona’s trio Neymar, who his coach believed should also have made the top 3. The others in the list were Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, who was the only representative from the EPL on the list. 5 names from the Juventus team that made it to the Champions League finals also were present in the list – Gianluigi Buffon, Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo.
