Barcelona Player of the Year: 5 candidates ranked
What does Bojan Krkic, Javier Mascherano and Sergi Busquets have in common? They have all won the Barcelona Player of the year award. Besides these three, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Ivan Rakitic and Carlos Puyol have also won the award that was introduced in 2010. The awards are decided by votes from the players and the final winner is selected by a jury.
This season, the Catalans have been in spectacular form once again. Barcelona are 11 points clear at the top of the table with 7 games to go. They are in the final of the Copa del Rey and are in the Quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. They have already won the Supercopa de Espana at the start of the season.
Ernesto Valverde has been able to get his team to fire on all cylinders, but he has been helped by some brilliant performances on the field. Today we bring forward the 5 players who have been phenomenal this season and are the top contenders for the Barcelona player of the year award.
#5 Ivan Rakitic
The reigning Barcelona player of the year stole the show in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and was instrumental as his country reached the finals. Even though Rakitic ended on the losing side, he gave a fine account of himself. The Croatian carried that good form into the new season and has been stellar for his club so far.
Rakitic has 46 appearances for Barcelona this season; only seven of those have been from the bench. On the field, the Croatian is a mixture of poise and steel. He can defend, track back and win the ball. Even though he is basically a central midfielder, Rakitic is equally comfortable on a defensive role.
On the other hand, the Croatian also plays a vital role going forward. Rakitic is a technically gifted footballer and one of the best passers of the ball in the world. The Croatian also makes late runs into the box and is nifty in front of goal too. Who can forget his goal against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu?
This season, Rakitic has already scored five goals from midfield and has also registered six assists. He is one of the most valuable hands of Ernesto Valverde and is definitely a contender for the Barcelona player of the year.
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