Chelsea FC star Eden Hazard has made the shortlist of UEFA’s 2014-15 Best Player in Europe award alongside FC Barcelona stars Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, as well as Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, and five Juventus players.
UEFA announced the 10-man shortlist for the Best Player In Europe Award on Wednesday. The three finalists will be named on Aug. 12, with the winner to be announced by a jury vote at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Aug. 28.
Hazard Joins The Elite
While Chelsea FC did not have the best of the season in Europe, Eden Hazard made the list on the back of an incredible season in the Premier League.
He was the second-top scorer behind Diego Costa with 14 goals as the Londoners won the Premier League title for the first time since 2009/10 and was also voted the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year.
Juventus Dominate The List
Juventus dominated the 10-men shortlist with 5 players, as Buffon, Vidal, Pogba, Tevez, and Pirlo all made the list. Juventus have already lost Tevez and Pirlo to Boca Juniors and New York City FC, respectively, and will be hoping to keep Vidal who is heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich.
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FC Barcelona’s MSN Make Most Likely Winners Alongside Ronaldo
The FC Barcelona trio of Neymar, Messi, and Suarez are undoubedly favorites for the award alongside Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.
The trio scored an incredible 122 goals as FC Barcelona won the Champions League, Spanish League, as well as the Spanish Cup.
It will be surprising if they, alongside Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo fail to make up the top three. Ronaldo ended the UEFA Champions League campaign with ten-goals and as joint-top scorer along with Messi and his club-mate Neymar.
The jury will cast their votes for the winner from a shortlist of three during the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on 28 August.
Past awards have been won by Lionel Messi (2011), Andr s Iniesta (2012), Franck Rib ry (2013) and Ronaldo (2014).