Lionel Messi is set to beat Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award, according to a stunning new leak.
UEFA announced on Thursday that the Barcelona superstar, Liverpool star and Juventus ace were all shortlisted in the final three for the award.
And a new leak has surfaced online suggesting that Messi, 32, will outdo Van Dijk, 28, in the race to be crowned Men's Player of the Year.
User u/reggiedp16 posted an image on Reddit of the ten players UEFA had initially revealed and how the final points had been allocated to the top three.
Messi, who finished fifth last year, came out on top after securing 252 points and Van Dijk finished in second place with 224 points.
Ronaldo, 34, fell well short of Messi and Van Dijk by collecting 181 points.
The remaining seven players have the same points as revealed by UEFA on Thursday -- and it's worth remembering to take the new 'leak' with a pinch of salt.
- Alisson Becker (Liverpool and Brazil): 57 points
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool and Senegal): 51 points
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt): 49 points
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid and Belgium): 38 points
- Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus and the Netherlands): 27 points
- Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona and the Netherlands): 27 points
- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City and England): 12 points
UEFA has said that its criteria for Men's Player of the Year has been based on their "performances over the whole season in all competitions -- both domestically and internationally -- at either club or national team level."
According to UEFA, the final three-man shortlist was selected by a jury consisting of the 80 coaches from teams that participated in the group stages of the Champions League and Europa League and 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media.
Jury members picked their top three players and points are allocated based on their rankings, with the first choice receiving five points, second place picking up three and third place getting one point.
The winner of the award will be revealed at the group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 29th August.
Along with the Men's Player of the Year award, UEFA will also announce the Women's Player of the Year and UEFA Champions League positional award winners.
Posted below are the shortlists for other UEFA awards.
- Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson, Hugo Lloris and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
- Defender of the Season: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk.
- Midfielder of the Season: Frenkie de Jong, Christian Eriksen and Jordan Henderson.
- Forward of the Season: Sadio Mane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg and Amandine Henry.
- Europa League Player of the Season: Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic.
Who should win the 2019 Men's Player of the Year?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Liverpool, Football News, Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, UEFA, Virgil Van Dijk, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo
