UEFA release 10-man shortlist for Best Player in Europe 2014-15 award
UEFA have released their 10-man shortlist for the best Player of the 2014-15 season shortlist. Any person who hasn’t had their head under the sand for the last decade or so can blindly name two players on this list. As expected Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi make the list.
They have both won the award in the past, with Cristiano Ronaldo claiming the title of reigning champion as he last claimed it after Real’s Champions League triumph in 2014. Messi received the award in 2011 when Barcelona won the Champions League.
Another Barcelona star Andres Iniesta laid claim to the prize in 2012 while Bayern’s Franck Ribery laid claim to it in 2013 having become a European champion.
This year among the list comprising 10 players 8 participated in the Champions League final, each of them with a fair shout for the award. Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon made it to the shortlist having led his side to the final of the Champions League only to be cruelly denied by an attacking trio who all made the list. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
The deadly trio scored 122 goals between them during the season. That figure was achieved with Suarez missing for a large part of the beginning of Barcelona’s start of the season. Apart from the figure being a record on its own, Messi, as is expected of him, broke a few records of his own as he became the highest scorer in the history of the La Liga surpassing Telmo Zarra's record of 251 strikes.
Apart from the Barcelona contingent, Juventus were also represented by 4 players apart from the talismanic captain Buffon. The midfield trio of Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo also join him alongside the maverick striker Carlos Tevez who was the club’s top goalscorer this season.
Despite being named the best player in the Italian Serie A, the iconic midfielder Pirlo has now left the Italian champions for the MLS newbies New York City FC. However, that does not stop him from joining his colleagues on this illustrious list.
Meanwhile, Arturo Vidal has had a superb footballing season despite his troubles off the pitch. Apart from winning a domestic double, he also went on to win the Copa America with Chile and played a starring role in both club and national team campaigns.
While the world has been talking about Paul Pogba’s transfer situation, the young lad has quietly been going about his business and playing his big role in Juventus’ fourth consecutive league trophy and Coppa Italia title to boot.
The leading scorer of the La Liga Cristiano Ronaldo was not to be left behind. Scoring 61 goals in all competitions this season, Ronaldo has made quite a stake to retain his title.
The only representative from the Premier League has been the PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard. Apart from the domestic double with Chelsea, he also racked up an impressive number of individual honours within the club and from the league to add to his cabinet.
Process of selection
As is usual procedure journalists from all of UEFA’s 54 member associations provided a list of 5 of their best-ranked players. Each of the top five players recieved points according to their position with the player in first position gaining the maximum points and the fifth gathering the lowest.
Following this procedure, the 10 players with the highest points tally make it to the top 10 and the jury then votes on who should win the ultimate honour.
Here is the list of players who made it to the list of 35 top players but missed out on the top 10:
| Player | Nationality | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Arjen Robben | Netherlands | Bayern Munich |
| Manuel Neuer | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| Carlos Bacca | Colombia | Sevilla, now AC Milan |
| Andrés Iniesta | Spain | Barcelona |
| Álvaro Morata | Spain | Juventus |
| Thomas Müller | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Belgium | Wolfsburg |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovi? | Sweden | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Gareth Bale | Wales | Real Madrid |
| André-Pierre Gignac | France | Marseille |
| Robert Lewandowski | Poland | Bayern Munich |
| Ivan Rakiti? | Croatia | Barcelona |
| Jérôme Boateng | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| Xavi Hernández | Spain | Barcelona, now al-Sadd |
| Jackson Martínez | Colombia | Porto |
| Javier Mascherano | Argentina | Barcelona |
| Alexis Sánchez | Chile | Arsenal |
| Giorgio Chiellini | Italy | Juventus |
| Roberto Firmino | Brazil | Hoffenheim, now Liverpool |
| Nemanja Mati? | Serbia | Chelsea |
| Arkadiusz Milik | Poland | Ajax |
| Nicolás Otamendi | Argentina | Valencia |
| Sergio Ramos | Spain | Real Madrid |
| Marc-André ter Stegen | Germany | Barcelona |
| Arda Turan | Turkey | Atlético Madrid, now Barcelona |