Europa League Player of the Season contenders
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Article summary
Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard and Luka Jović make up the 2018/19 shortlist.
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Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard and Luka Jović have been shortlisted for the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award.
Chelsea's Giroud was the top scorer in last season's competition, registering 11 goals in 14 matches. The Frenchman also chipped in with five assists and was the focal point of a prolific Blues attack.
His team-mate at the time, Hazard was man of the match as Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 in the Baku final, the brilliant Belgian scoring twice on his farewell appearance for the club before joining Real Madrid.
Jović, meanwhile, was the standout performer for an Eintracht Frankfurt side that lit up the competition before losing on penalties to Chelsea in the semis. The Serbia forward struck ten times in 14 games, also convincing Real Madrid to recruit him this summer.
The award will be presented during the UEFA Europa League group stage draw ceremony in Monaco on 30 August.
Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)
Appearances: 14
Minutes: 1125
Goals: 11
Assists: 5
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Appearances: 8
Minutes: 451
Goals: 2
Assists: 2
Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Appearances: 14
Minutes: 953
Goals: 10
Assists: 1
Player rankings (4 to 10)
4 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) – 65 points
5 Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) – 19 points
6 N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea) – 16 points
7 João Félix (Benfica, now Atlético) – 12 points
8 Willian (Chelsea) – 11 points
9= Pedro Rodríguez (Chelsea) – 9 points
9= Sébastien Haller (Eintracht, now West Ham) – 9 points
UEFA Europa League squad of the season
How the players were shortlisted
The jury was composed of the coaches of the 48 clubs in last season's group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each UEFA member association.
Jury members picked their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
Previous winners
2017/18: Antoine Griezmann
2016/17: Paul Pogba
Have your say
You can get involved in the debate on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #UEFAawards.