5 favourites to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award (2021-22)
The 2021-22 Champions League Group Stage matches will begin this week. Europe's elite competition returns and it has all the makings to be as entertaining and exciting a season as any.
UEFA Best Men's Player Award race was dominated by Premier League players last term
Chelsea toiled to become the Champions League winners last season while Italy won Euro 2020. The Blues' and Azzurri's midfield metronome Jorginho was chosen as the UEFA Men's Player of the Year. Kevin De Bruyne, N'Golo Kante and Jorginho were the final three in the race for the prestigious award.
Last season's UEFA Champions League was a tightly contested affair and it was nearly impossible to predict which way it was going to go.
A lot has happened in the world of football over the course of the summer. Plenty of high-profile stars have switched clubs in the past few months. It might be hyperbolic to suggest that a power shift has happened but a transition is definitely starting to gain momentum.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five favourites to win the UEFA Champions League Player of the Season Award.
#5 N'Golo Kante - Chelsea
N'Golo Kante was chosen as the UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season last term. He made as strong a case for it as anyone could have. Kante picked up four back-to-back man-of-the-match awards starting from the second leg of the quarter-finals all the way to the final for Chelsea.
The Frenchman is one of the most hard-working midfielders on the planet. He relentlessly hounds opposition players and is incredibly neat with his passing and movement as well. He makes a nuisance of himself by constantly impeding the attacking flow of the opposition, making it hard for them to stitch moves together.
Kante will once again be crucial to Thomas Tuchel's plans for the Champions League. He is a big game player and is once again expected to deliver big time.
#4 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
There's an argument that Bayern Munich are starting to get over-reliant on Robert Lewandowski. Well, now it's up to the rest of the players to step up and share the responsibility. The Bavarians looked extremely dominant during their triumphant run in the Champions League in the 2019-20 season.
Lewandowski was chosen as the UEFA Men's Player of the Year in 2020 but his teammates also contributed well to Bayern's cause. However, they crashed out in the quarter-finals against Paris Saint-Germain last season.
The Polish international scored five goals in six Champions League appearances last term. He will look to do better than that. Lewandowski is arguably the best striker on the planet right now. He is definitely tipped to be a contender for the UEFA Best Men's Player of the Year award.