Benzema, Courtois, De Bruyne nominated for UEFA Player of the Year award

Real Madrid players, Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois, and Manchester City midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, have been shortlisted for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award.

UEFA made this known via a statement published on its website on Friday.

The European football governing body said a jury made up of journalists and representatives of clubs playing in European competitions voted for the trio from a list of 15.

Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski, was fourth on the ballot and just missed out.

The award will be presented on August 25 during the draw for the Champions League group stage.

Real Madrid won the Spanish Liga and the Champions League last season.

Benzema was named Champions League Player of the Season after scoring 15 goals in the competition, including three in Real’s semi-final victory over Manchester City.

Benzema, on Wednesday, became the club’s second-highest scorer in history with 324 goals, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (450) after netting Real’s second goal against Frankfurt in the UEFA Super Cup.

Courtois was spectacular as Real Madrid edged Liverpool 1-0 in the final and was named player of the match.

De Bruyne made the shortlist for the third straight year after inspiring City to the Premier League title.

Jorginho won the title last year after winning the Champions League with Chelsea and the delayed Euro 2020 with Italy.

UEFA also announced the three nominees for coach of the year

They are Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, Man City’s Josep Guardiola, and the man they had to beat to win their biggest titles last season, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp.

The rest of the top 15 players

4 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern, now Barcelona & Poland) – 54 points

5 Luka Modrić (Real Madrid & Croatia) – 52 points

6 Sadio Mané (Liverpool, now Bayern & Senegal) – 51 points

7 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 46 points

8 Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 25 points

9 Vinícius Junior (Real Madrid & Brazil) – 21 points

10 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool & Netherlands) – 19 points

11 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City & Portugal) – 7 points

12 Filip Kostić (Eintracht Frankfurt & Serbia) – 7 points

13 Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma & Italy) – 5 points

14 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool & England) – 2 points