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UEFA is set to name their Men's Player of the Year on Thursday with regulars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo set to battle it out against Virgil van Dijk for the award.
The award will be presented during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco to the player who is believed to have been the best performer in the previous year, both domestically and internationally, among the UEFA member clubs.
The winner has been chosen by representative journalists from each of UEFA's 54 member nations selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group as well as 80 coaches who have managed European clubs in the previous campaign.
The voters chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second receiving three points and the third player earning one point.
In this article, we analyse the three nominees' chances at winning the award based on their performances in the past year:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal)
Ronaldo, who has won the award a record three times since its inception in 2011, is the unlikeliest nominee to be named Europe's best player this time around.
By his lofty standards, the Portuguese talisman was unable to reach his previous heights during his debut season with Juventus, although he did manage to register an impressive 28 goals and 10 assists, for the Serie A giants.
The 34-year-old may have helped the Old Lady to a routine Scudetto but he failed to inspire the side to Champions League glory, a prize that has eluded the club for decades.
The Italian titans brought Ronaldo to Turin last summer in the hopes of ending their European trophy drought but the former Real Madrid forward could not guide them beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The five-time Ballon d'Or's most notable contribution on the European stage was his phenomenal hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16 fixture that helped his side overturn a two-goal deficit and make their way to the next stage.
Ronaldo, however, made up for his shortcomings for Juventus with an international title, having led Portugal to the inaugural UEFA Nations League title this summer. He played an integral role in the semi-finals of the competition as he netted yet another hat-trick to fire his national team to the finals.
While Ronaldo remains a perennial contender for individual awards in football, it does not look like he'll be winning a record fourth UEFA award this year.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
Lionel Messi's scintillating individual season means he remains an overwhelming favourite for all individual awards this year. The Barcelona captain has been named UEFA Men's Player of the Year twice and stands a chance at adding a third to equal Ronaldo's record this year.
The Argentine maestro finished with a mind-blowing 51 goals and 22 assists in all competitions for Barcelona, with a goal involvement ratio of 1.46 goals per match. The 32-year-old also won his sixth European Golden Shoe courtesy of the 36 goals he scored in La Liga.
Many believe Messi's chances at winning individual acoolades this year have been dampened by his inability to keep his pre-season promise to guide the Blaugrana to the Champions League trophy. What initially looked like a quest for a third treble ended with only one of the three trophies following grand collapses by the Catalans in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
Having said that, the 32-year-old hardly has an attacking player to rival his insane numbers. Despite Barcelona's disappointing semi-final exit, he managed to score ten goals in the Champions League to win the competition's Golden Boot for the fifth time.
Individually, the only thing that could hamper his chances at winning the award is his national form for Argentina in the Copa America. Like Ronaldo, Messi netted three goals for his national team in the past year, but he once again failed to guide the Albiceleste to an international title, a fact that could definitely be used against him throughout the award season.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)
Virgil van Dijk has been tipped to win a series of individual prizes for months following his legendary performances at the heart of the Liverpool defence in the last year.
The Netherlands international made 59 appearances for club and country last term, during which he netted nine goals and provided four assists.
The 28-year-old centre-back played an integral role in the evolution of the Liverpool defence into one of the strongest in Europe. In the previous season, the Reds conceded the fewest goals (22) than any other Premier League team, a record that could largely be credited to the former Southampton man.
Van Dijk boasts of having the highest successful duel percentage in Europe (76.3%) and has won over 70% of all aerial battles and duels for Liverpool.
The Dutchman's impenetrable qualities also led to a much talked about statistic claiming he was not dribbled past in any competitive game in the last season.
Internationally, the Liverpool star's statistics are just as impressive with a duel success rate of 73.4%. However, his defensive efforts could not get the Netherlands past Portugal in the UEFA Nations League final, leaving him short of an international title.
A defender has never been named UEFA Men's Player of the Year but van Dijk could well be on his way to change that this year.
