Without Cristiano or Messi: the candidates for best player by position of the Champions 2021
The top European football entity announced on Friday the list of candidates for the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the last Champions League, whose winner was Chelsea.
Those days when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated UEFA award nominations have long since been forgotten. None of the aforementioned players is on the list of favorites for best striker in the Champions League last season.
The payroll does include Erling Haaland, from Borussia Dortmund, Kylian Mbappé, from Paris Saint Germain, and Robert Lewandowski, from Bayern Munich, the governing body of European football reported on Friday. The Norwegian international topped the scorers table in the 2020-21 season with 10 goals in the ‘Vendaval’ career to the quarterfinals, two more than World Cup winner Mbappé of France.
Poland's Lewandowski, winner of last season's award in the category, scored five goals. Champion Chelsea, who beat Manchester City in the final, dominated the shortlist elsewhere with a total of five players. César Azpilicueta and Antonio Rüdiger joined City's Rubén Dias as contenders for the best defender award. Jorginho and N’Golo Kanté were shortlisted for the best midfielder award along with City's Kevin De Bruyne. Thibaut Courtois, from Real Madrid, Ederson, from City, and Édouard Mendy, from Chelsea, are competing for the best goalkeeper award.
The nominees were selected by a jury made up of 32 coaches from last season's tournament participants and 55 journalists chosen by the European Sports Media group. It should be remembered that both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorers in the history of the competition, were eliminated from the last Champions League only in the round of 16 stage, where Barcelona fell to PSG and Juventus could not against Porto.
