Lewandowski, Neuer, De Bruyne Nominated For The UEFA Player of the Year Award, While Messi and Ronaldo Miss Out.

Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer and Kevin De Bruyne have been nominated for the 2019/20 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award.

The Europe’s football governing body (UEFA) on Wednesday, confirmed on it's website, that the trio have emerged finalists for the award from an initial shortlist of ten-players.

Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski and Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer helped Bayern win the Champions League last month, after beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the final.

Polish star Lewandowski was regarded as a top contender to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or, before the prestigious award was cancelled due to Covid-19. 

The 32-year-old scored an astonishing 55 goals in 47 games as Bayern won the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and the German Cup. 

He was also the top-scorer in the Champions League with 15 goals.

Fellow teammate and German Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer kept the highest cleansheets (6) in last season Champions League competition, the 34-year-old played a key role in Bayern's success.

While Manchester City’s playmaker De Bruyne was nominated following his 16 goals and 23 assists in 48 appearances across all competitions last season. He helped the Citizens to a second place finish in the Premier League standings, 18 points behind Lea Champions Liverpool. 

The 29-year-old Belgian star also led his team to the quater-final of the Champions League where they lost 3-1 to Lyon.  

The shortlist votes were cast by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of last season’s Champions League and Europa League, along with 55 selected journalists, representing each nation.

Barcelona’s star Lionel Messi, and Juventus star Cristaino Ronaldo miss out of the finalist for first time ever since 2010.

Lionel Messi came fourth in the long-list following his trophyless campaign last season for Barcelona, he scored just three goals in last season's Champions league competition.

While Cristaino Ronaldo only finished tenth in voting despite winning the Serie A title for Juventus, and scoring four goals in the Champions League.

Ronaldo however remains the player with the most Uefa award, having win it (3-times) in 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, with nominations in six other years.

Messi, meanwhile, won the 2010-11 and 2014-15 crowns alongside his six Ballon d'Or wins.

The winner will be announced along with other categories on October 1, during the draws for this season’s Champions League group stage in Nyon, Switzerland.

Here are the remaining list of the top ten:

4 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 53 votes

= Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) 53 votes

6 Thomas Müller (Bayern) 41 votes

7 Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 39 votes

8 Thiago Alcántara (Bayern) 27 votes

9 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern) 26 votes

10 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) 25 votes