Champions League positional awards nominees announced

Holders Bayern dominate the positional award shortlists for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League season, with seven of their players making the cut following their triumph in Lisbon.

Runners-up Paris Saint-Germain have three players in the running, with Atlético de Madrid and Manchester City the only other clubs represented.

Positional award nominees for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League

Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain), Manuel Neuer (Bayern), Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid)

Defenders: David Alaba (Bayern), Alphonso Davies (Bayern), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern)

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Thiago Alcántara (Bayern)

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

What are these awards?

These accolades were introduced in 2016/17 to recognise the season's best player in each position in Europe's premier club competition. This year's winners will be named – along with the UEFA Men's Player of the Year and UEFA Women's Player of the Year – during the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday 1 October. The 2019/20 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season will be announced the following day.

Player rankings (4 to 10)

Goalkeepers
4 Anthony Lopes (Lyon) – 46 points
5 Alisson Becker (Liverpool) – 28 points
6 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) – 18 points
= Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona) – 18 points
8 Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig) – 15 points
9 Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus) – 10 points
10 Ederson (Manchester City) – 8 points

Defenders
4 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 79 points
5 Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain) – 54 points
6 Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig) – 46 points
7 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) – 35 points
8 Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain) – 21 points
9 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – 10 points
10 Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) – 8 points

Midfielders
4 Serge Gnabry (Bayern) – 46 points
5 Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain) – 44 points
6 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern) – 40 points
7 Leon Goretzka (Bayern) – 39 points
8 Houssem Aouar (Lyon) – 22 points
9 Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain) – 20 points
10 Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig) – 18 points

Forwards
4 Serge Gnabry (Bayern) – 46 points
5 Erling Braut Haaland (Salzburg/Dortmund) – 33 points
= Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 33 points
7 Thomas Müller (Bayern) – 29 points
8 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) – 18 points
9 Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain) – 9 points
10 Sadio Mané (Liverpool) – 8 points

How the players were shortlisted

The jury comprised the coaches of the 32 clubs in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from every UEFA member association. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams.

Jury members chose their top three players per position, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The three players who got the most points in each category made up the final shortlist.

Last season's winners

Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Defender: Virgil van Dijk
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong
Forward: Lionel Messi