Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk leads three-man shortlist for UEFA men's player of the year

Champions League winner Virgil Van Dijk will compete with past winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2018/19 UEFA men’s best player award.

The Liverpool defender has been named on the three-man shortlist alongside three-time winner Ronaldo of Juventus and rwice winner Messi of Barcelona.

The Dutch centre-back was a rock at the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s defence as the Reds overcame Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final in Madrid in May.

Van Dijk helped Liverpool finish second in the Premier League while he captained the Netherlands to the final of the UEFA Nations League, where they lost to hosts Portugal.

Last year’s winner, Luka Modric, has failed to make the shortlist as both Croatia and club Real Madrid endured difficult seasons following record-breaking 2018 seasons.

The top ten was dominated by Liverpool players with goalkeeper Alisson Becker and strikers Sadio Mané and Mo Salah occupying fourth, fifth and sixth spots respectively.

The shortlist was compiled by the 80 coaches whose teams took part in the Champions League and Europa League group stages plus one journalist from each of the 55 UEFA member associations.

Elsewhere, Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud joins new Real Madrid recruits Eden Hazard and Luka Jovi? on the shortlist for the Europa League player of the year.

The rest of the 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