CRISTIANO Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Buffon have been nominated for the UEFA’s Player of the Year award.
UEFA trimmed her original shortlist of 10 down to three on Tuesday, with Monaco starlet, Kylian Mbappe and former Manchester United frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic among the seven players to miss the cut.
The three-player shortlist was selected by a panel of 80 coaches from the clubs which participated in the group stage of the 2016- 17 Champions League and Europa League, as well as 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media group.
Ronaldo helped Real Madrid to a second consecutive Champions League title and finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 12 goals. Goalkeeper Buffon led Juventus to a sixth successive Serie A title, a third straight Italian Cup success and a runner-up finish in the Champions League.
He is just the second goalkeeper that made the final three since the award was introduced for the 2010–11 season. The other was Manuel Neuer in 2013-14.
Messi claimed the Copa del Rey with Barcelona and finished as La Liga’s top scorer with 37 goals last season.