Champions League positional awards: nominees announced

Real Madrid once again dominate the UEFA Champions League positional award shortlists.

THE NOMINEES IN NUMBERS

European champions Madrid have six players nominated, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo who has joined Juventus since helping the Merengues to a third straight UEFA Champions League title in Kyiv in May. There are three nominees per position, with the winners set to be announced during the 2018/19 group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 30 August.

Positional award nominees for the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League season

Goalkeepers: Alisson Becker (Roma, now Liverpool), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, now Paris), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid)

Defenders: Marcelo (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Luka Modrić (Real Madrid)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, now Juventus), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

What are these awards?

These accolades were introduced last year to recognise the season's best player in each position in Europe's premier club competition. This year's winners will be named – along with the UEFA Men's Player of the Year and UEFA Women's Player of the Year – during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 30 August.

Player rankings (4 to 10)

Goalkeepers
4 Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona) – 47 points
5 Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea, now Real Madrid) – 28 points
6 Ederson (Manchester City) – 26 points
7 Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) – 18 points
8 Jan Oblak (Atlético) – 16 points
9 David de Gea (Manchester United) – 7 points
10 Sven Ulreich (Bayern) – 5 points

Defenders
4 Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus) – 40 points
5 Dejan Lovren (Liverpool) – 37 points
6 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 24 points
7 Diego Godín (Atlético) – 15 points
8 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern) – 14 points
9 Mats Hummels (Bayern) – 13 points
10 Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) – 10 points

Midfielders
4 Casemiro (Real Madrid) – 40 points
5 James Milner (Liverpool) – 18 points
6 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona, now Vissel Kobe) – 16 points
7 Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona) – 9 points
8= Isco (Real Madrid), Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Miralem Pjanić (Juventus), James Rodríguez (Bayern) – 6 points

Forwards
4 Kylian Mbappé (Paris) – 17 points
5= Edin Džeko (Roma), Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 15 points
7 Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) – 13 points
8= Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético), Sadio Mané (Liverpool) – 12 points

How the players were shortlisted

The jury comprised the coaches of the 32 clubs in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams.

Jury members chose their top three players per position, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The three players who got the most points in each category made up the final shortlist.

Last season's winners

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Defender: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Midfielder: Luka Modrić (Real Madrid)
Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Have your say

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