UEFA have revealed the final nominees for the 2019/20 Men's Player of the Year award. Three players are in the running for this award, as selected by a jury consisting of 80 coaches and 55 journalists, and they are Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, and Manuel Neuer.
As mentioned above, the 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the 2019/20 Champions League and Europa League group stages – 32 from the UCL and 48 from the UEL – joined 55 journalists from each of UEFA's 55 member associations to select the candidates. They were tasked with selecting a three-man shortlist for this coveted prize, allocating five points, three points and one point to each of them respectively – the coaches were prohibited from voting for their own players,
This selection process saw Man City's Belgian maestro join the two members of Bayern Munich's treble-winning side on the podium. The inclusion of Lewandowski is a no-brainer. The Polish ace was the most lethal striker in 2019/20, scoring a whopping 55 goals in 47 appearances across all competitions, 15 of which came in the Champions League alone.
The former Dortmund man finished UEFA's premier club competition as top scorer in 2019/20 and while he did not find the back of the net in the final over PSG, Lewandowski was the most influential figure of their lethal attack. Manuel Neuer, on the other hand, was at the core of the Bavarians' solid defense, racking up the most number of clean sheets (6), the second-highest clean sheet percentage (54.5%), and the third-highest save percentage (0.79%).
As for De Bruyne, the midfield superstar enjoyed another stellar campaign despite Man City's disappointing season, proving to be classy once again both domestically and in Europe. In fact, the Belgian ace was one of a few players who could hold their heads up high after the Citizens' embarrassing Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Lyon.
The Men's Player of the Year nominees weren't the only ones to be announced. The candidates for the Coach of the Year honor were also revealed and they are Bayern's Hans-Dieter Flick, Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, and RB Leipzig's Julian Nagelsmann. Of the three, Flick is the obvious favorite, being appointed as interim head coach after Niko Kovac's dismissal before being given the permanent role only to lead the club to their second treble in history.
The nominees for the women's awards were also published, with Lucy Bronze (former Lyon star, now at Man City Women FC), Pernille Harder (former Wolfsburg ace, now at Chelsea FC Women), and Wendie Renard (Lyon) being in the run for the Women's Player of the Year gong. As for the Women's Coach of the Year honor, Lluís Cortés (Barcelona), Stephan Lerch (Wolfsburg) and Jean-Luc Vasseur (Lyon) are the candidates.
