Chelsea and Manchester City featured heavily in the shortlist for the Men’s UEFA Champions League team and players of the year awards.
Manchester City’s Ederson joins Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy on the shortlist for the Goalkeeper of the Year award. Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, meanwhile, completes the list following his team’s run to the semifinals.
Chelsea contributed with two in the Defender of the Year shortlist, with center-backs Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger making the cut. City’s Ruben Dias – who was named Premier League’s Player of the Season 2020/21 – is also on the list.
Jorginho, who enjoyed a successful summer for both Chelsea and Italy, is among the three midfielders nominated for the positional award. His clubmate N’Golo Kante is also on the shortlist, as is City talisman Kevin De Bruyne.
Surprisingly, neither of the two finalists contribute to any of the nominees for Forward of the Year. Instead, the award will be decided between Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, or Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
Meanwhile, The Blues and Barcelona are the big winners in terms of positional award nominees for the 2020/21 Women’s Champions League. Once again, the two teams reached the final of the competition, which Barcelona won 4-0.
Seven of the nominees come from Barcelona, including all three forwards, courtesy of their dominant performances in the competition. Chelsea, on the other hand, contributed with three.
In the UEFA Europa League, Manchester United pair Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani are up against Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno for the Player of the Year award. Moreno finished as the top scorer in the competition which, his team won by beating the Red Devils in the final.
