UEFA releases final shortlist for individual awards.

After 10 years of dominating football in Europe, Lionel messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been left off the final shortlist for the UEFA men’s player of the year award.

The 3-man final shortlist released on Wednesday reveal Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer are set to battle it out for the individual prize.

Ronaldo and Messi have picked up the accolade a total number of six times between them. The Juventus star has won it three times and has a total of nine nominations to his name, while the latter has won it two times and made the final shortlist in six of the last 10 seasons.

Bayern striker, Robert Lewandowski is a favorite to win the prize having won the competition with Bayern Munich and finished as the top scorer with 15 goals to his name. But, he faces competition from Manchester city’s Kelvin De Bruyne and team-mate Manuel Neuer.

Liverpool’s solid rock, Virgil van Dijk won the award in 2019 after some wonderful performances that contributed to his team winning the title for the sixth time in their history. Unfortunately he was unable to keep his place as the Reds crashed out after a defeat to Atletico Madrid in the last 16.

The winner would be revealed before the draws for the 2020-21 champions league group stage draws on October 1.

Alongside the Men’s player of the year award list, UEFA also announced the final nominees for the women’s player of the year award, with Lucy Bronze,Pernille Harder and Wendie Renard shortlisted.

Jurgen Klopp, Hansi Flick and Julian Nagielsmann are in contention for the Men’s coach of the year and Lluis Cortes, Stephan Lurch and Jean-Luc Vasseur make up the final candidates for the Women’s coach of the year award. Both managerial awards would be the first in the competition’s history to be presented.