Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi missing in Uefa Team of Year
Argentina and Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi and Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo were both missing in the Uefa 2019/20 team of the year nomination list. This will be the first time either the player’s names was not nominated for over two years now, UEFA announced on Thursday, the 12-man nominees who will square off in four different categories of the awards.
The shortlist is dominated by Champions League champions Bayern Munich who have seven players nominated. Lionel Messi helped his team Barcelona to the quarter-final where they were eliminated by the winner Bayern Munich 8-2. For Cristiano Ronaldo, he could not stop Juventus from losing to Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyon in the round of 16 even though he scored twice in their last game, they were still eliminated. Ronaldo who left Real Madrid and join Juventus has been very impressive since his signing.
In the Best Goalkeeper of the Season category, Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer will compete with Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid and former Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas of Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern Munich back trio Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba and Alphonso Davies will battle for the Best Defender of the Season award.
Only one player from the English Premier League made it to the list and the player is Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne, he will be competing follow country-man Thomas Muller and Spanish international Thiago Alcantara. While for the Best Forward, PSG’s Neymar and Kylian Mbappe will go head-to-head with Robert Lewandowski of Bayern.
The winners of the 2019/2020 Champions League awards will be announced on October 1st at the Champions League draw.
2019/2020 Champions League Awards categories
Best Goalkeeper nominees:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain)
Best Defender nominees:
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
David Alaba (Bayern Munich)
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
Best Midfielder nominees:
Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich)
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Best Forward nominees:
Neymar (PSG)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern)