Eden Hazard voted 2018/19 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season

Eden Hazard has been voted as the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season. He was revealed as winner of the award during today's UEFA Europa League group stage draw in Monaco.

The former Chelsea FC forward, who joined Real Madrid CF this summer, scored two goals as he helped Chelsea win the all-English UEFA Europa League final 4-1 against London rivals Arsenal FC 4-1 in Baku in May.

The 28-year-old claimed a total of 340 points in a vote by a jury comprising the coaches from the 48 clubs that participated in the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams.

Serbia's former Eintracht Frankfurt forward Luka Jović (now at Real Madrid CF) came second with 119 points. Hazard's former club-mate Olivier Giroud (France, Chelsea FC) was third, finishing with a total of 94 points.

The jury of coaches and journalists was requested to select a shortlist of three players by allocating them scores of five points, three points and one point respectively. The final result was based on the total number of votes cast by the coaches and journalists.

In a video-recorded message, Hazard said: "Having just received this trophy in my hands, I would like to thank everyone who voted for me. I’d like to wish good luck to all the players playing in the UEFA Europa League this year."