Kevin De Bruyne: Champions League Midfielder of the Season
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Article summary
Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been named Midfielder of the Season for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League.
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Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has won the Midfielder of the Season award for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League campaign.
De Bruyne was in exquisite form for much of last season as City reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and finished second in the Premier League. The 29-year-old Belgian was voted by his fellow professionals as Player of the Year in England after racking up a record-equalling 20 assists. His latest award was announced during the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Geneva.
Midfielder of the Season voting
1 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – 171 points
2 Thiago Alcántara (Bayern) – 169 points
3 Thomas Müller (Bayern) – 78 points
4 Serge Gnabry (Bayern) – 46 points
5 Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain) – 44 points
6 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern) – 40 points
7 Leon Goretzka (Bayern) – 39 points
8 Houssem Aouar (Lyon) – 22 points
9 Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain) – 20 points
10 Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig) – 18 points
De Bruyne's 2019/20 in numbers
Achievements: English League Cup winner, Premier League runner-up, PFA Players' Player of the Year, UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season
UEFA Champions League
Appearances: 7
Goals: 2
Assists: 2
Domestic league
Appearances: 35
Goals: 13
Assists: 20
De Bruyne testimonials
"He is a masterclass player, one of the best players I have ever trained in my life."
Josep Guardiola, Manchester City coach
"I've never worked with a playmaker that can work at a faster pace than the game. Any playmaker we're used to seeing is a player that slows the tempo down and gets two seconds to think, two seconds to find that pass. [De Bruyne] sees the pass even before any spectators see it."
Roberto Martínez, Belgium coach
"In the Belgium national team we used to joke about the [Premier League single-season] assists record and I always used to say, 'You were not far this year,' and he would always say, 'I'll get you one day'."
Thierry Henry, former Belgium assistant coach
How De Bruyne was chosen
The jury comprised the coaches of the 32 clubs in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from every UEFA member association. 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 player who received the most points in each category was named the winner.
The other award winners
UEFA Men's Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
UEFA Women's Player of the Year: Pernille Harder
Men's Coach of the Year: Hansi Flick
Women's Coach of the Year: Jean-Luc Vasseur
Men's Goalkeeper of the Season: Manuel Neuer
Men's Defender of the Season: Joshua Kimmich
Men's Forward of the Season: Robert Lewandowski
Women's Goalkeeper of the Season: Sarah Bouhaddi
Women's Defender of the Season: Wendie Renard
Women's Midfielder of the Season: Dzsenifer Marozsán
Women's Forward of the Season: Pernille Harder
UEFA President’s Award: Didier Drogba