UEFA Players of the Year 2021/22 shortlist revealed

UEFA have unveiled their shortlist for the Men and Women Player of the Year award for the 2021/22 season.

Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois have been nominated for their role in Real Madrid’s double-winning campaign, together with Kevin De Bruyne is also on the list after a wonderful season with Manchester City.

The World Cup final takes place on December 18 and Premier League action will resume eight days later on Boxing Day, Monday, December 26. The final round of Premier League matches, to be played on May 28, 2023, will kick off simultaneously as is customary.

Benzema scored 44 goals in just 46 games.

Courtois match performance in the Champions League final win over Liverpool.

De Bruyne scored 15 goals and assists as Man City retained their Premier League title.

The rest of the top 15 players
4 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern, now Barcelona & Poland) – 54 points
5 Luka Modrić (Real Madrid & Croatia) – 52 points
6 Sadio Mané (Liverpool, now Bayern & Senegal) – 51 points
7 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 46 points
8 Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 25 points
9 Vinícius Junior (Real Madrid & Brazil) – 21 points
10 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool & Netherlands) – 19 points
11 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City & Portugal) – 7 points
12 Filip Kostić (Eintracht Frankfurt & Serbia) – 7 points
13 Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma & Italy) – 5 points
14 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool & England) – 2 points
15 Fabinho (Liverpool & Brazil) – 1 point

The award is voted on by coaches from last season’s Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, as well as a select group of journalists. The jury had to select three top players. – five points for first, three for second and one for third – and coaches were not allowed to pick their own players.

The other award nominees

Men’s Coach of the Year: Carlo Ancelotti, Josep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp

The rest of the top six
4 Oliver Glasner (Eintracht Frankfurt) – 75 points
5 Unai Emery (Villarreal) – 74 points
6 José Mourinho (Roma) – 51 points

A shortlist of 15 players was then whittled down to the final three. The winner will be unveiled at the draw for the Champions League group stage on 25 August.

The reigning Men’s Player of the Year is Jorginho, who won the 2020/21 Champions League with Chelsea and Euro 2020 with Italy.