VIRGIL VAN DIJK OUT TO MAKE HISTORY AGAINST MESSI, RONALDO.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk have been in the three man shortlist for the 2018/19 UEFA Men's Player of the Year award.

The UEFA Women's Player of the Year and UEFA Champions League positional award winners will also be awarded during the group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 29 August. While the UEFA Europa League Player of the Season will be awarded on Friday.

The three-man shortlist.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
He won his tenth La Liga as well as the top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League and also the European Golden Shoe winner.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)
He won his first Serie A title, UEFA Nations League and top goalscorer at the finals.

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)
He won MVP in the final, the UEFA Champions League winners also played in the UEFA Nations League decider but lost the Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal.

The remainaing top ten

4. Alisson Becker (Liverpool & Brazil) – 57 points
5. Sadio Mané (Liverpool & Senegal) – 51 points
6. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 49 points
7. Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid & Belgium) –         38 points
8. Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus & Netherlands) –      27 points
8. Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona & Netherlands) –    27 points
10. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City & England) –        12 points.

The other award nominees

Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson Becker, Hugo Lloris, Marc-André ter Stegen 

Defender of the Season: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk 

Midfielder of the Season: Frenkie de Jong, Christian Eriksen, Jordan Henderson 

Forward of the Season: Sadio Mané, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo 

Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry 

Europa League Player of the Season: Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard, Luka Jović