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The 2021-22 Champions League Group Stage matches will begin this week. Europe's elite competition returns and it has all the makings to be as entertaining and exciting a season as any.
UEFA Best Men's Player Award race was dominated by Premier League players last term
Chelsea toiled to become the Champions League winners last season while Italy won Euro 2020. The Blues' and Azzurri's midfield metronome Jorginho was chosen as the UEFA Men's Player of the Year. Kevin De Bruyne, N'Golo Kante and Jorginho were the final three in the race for the prestigious award.
Last season's UEFA Champions League was a tightly contested affair and it was nearly impossible to predict which way it was going to go.
A lot has happened in the world of football over the course of the summer. Plenty of high-profile stars have switched clubs in the past few months. It might be hyperbolic to suggest that a power shift has happened but a transition is definitely starting to gain momentum.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five favourites to win the UEFA Champions League Player of the Season Award.
#5 N'Golo Kante - Chelsea
N'Golo Kante was chosen as the UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season last term. He made as strong a case for it as anyone could have. Kante picked up four back-to-back man-of-the-match awards starting from the second leg of the quarter-finals all the way to the final for Chelsea.
The Frenchman is one of the most hard-working midfielders on the planet. He relentlessly hounds opposition players and is incredibly neat with his passing and movement as well. He makes a nuisance of himself by constantly impeding the attacking flow of the opposition, making it hard for them to stitch moves together.
Kante will once again be crucial to Thomas Tuchel's plans for the Champions League. He is a big game player and is once again expected to deliver big time.
#4 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
There's an argument that Bayern Munich are starting to get over-reliant on Robert Lewandowski. Well, now it's up to the rest of the players to step up and share the responsibility. The Bavarians looked extremely dominant during their triumphant run in the Champions League in the 2019-20 season.
Lewandowski was chosen as the UEFA Men's Player of the Year in 2020 but his teammates also contributed well to Bayern's cause. However, they crashed out in the quarter-finals against Paris Saint-Germain last season.
The Polish international scored five goals in six Champions League appearances last term. He will look to do better than that. Lewandowski is arguably the best striker on the planet right now. He is definitely tipped to be a contender for the UEFA Best Men's Player of the Year award.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
Manchester United enjoyed a brilliant start to their 2020-21 Champions League campaign. They beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in Paris before beating RB Leipzig 5-1 at home. Their European campaign came off the rails afterwards as they suffered defeats to Istanbul Basaksehir, PSG and RB Leipzig.
They crashed out of the group stage in rather unfortunate fashion. The Red Devils then made it to the final of the Europa League. Now that they've added Cristiano Ronaldo to the mix, they will be a lot sturdier in Europe. 'Champions League Varane' and Jadon Sancho's additions will also do them a world of good.
Cristiano Ronaldo has already delivered the stuff of dreams to Manchester United fans. He scored a sensational brace on his second debut at the club. He has plenty of quality behind him as well.
With the likes of Bruno Fernandes and an in-form Paul Pogba in midfield and attackers like Sancho, Rashford and Greenwood around him, sky is the limit for Ronaldo.
#2 Neymar Jr. - Paris Saint-Germain
Neymar was the creator-in-chief for Paris Saint-Germain in their run to the semi-finals of the Champions League last term. He ran the show for PSG and the Ligue 1 outfit were earmarked as the favourites to win the tournament. That was until they unraveled and lost their way in the semi-finals against Manchester City.
As is well known to us, Neymar loves playing with Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain's most high-profile signing of the summer. The Brazilian scored six goals and provided three assists in nine appearances in the Champions League last term.
There will be a lot of high-octane football when PSG are playing and if things go according to plan, it's going to be difficult for any side to get the better of them.
#1 Lionel Messi - Paris Saint-Germain
It's no secret that Barcelona were heavily reliant on Lionel Messi in the 2020-21 season. The Argentina international had to carry the load on his back and he did a pretty decent job too. But a severe lack of cohesion was apparent in the early days of the Ronald Koeman regime.
Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League in the Round of 16 by Paris Saint-Germain. In six appearances in the competition, Messi scored five goals and provided two assists. But now, he has finally left Barcelona and joined a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi has not really been surrounded by so many world-class players since the MSN era. There is no doubt that the 34-year-old is going to have plenty of fun playing alongside the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr., Angel Di Maria and Marco Verratti, to name a few.
