UEFA
will name its Men's Player of the Year today
Thursday, 29 August 2019 with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk up against Juventus
forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the award.
 |
| Van Dijk, Messi, Ronaldo: Can the Dutch defender do what Luka Modric did a year ago and beat the game's two superstars to the award |
Just how good
have the three contenders been over the past year? BBC Sport, with the help of
sports analysts Opta, takes a look.
It is a battle as old as time itself -
or so it can feel.
When it comes to the
shortlists for best player trophies - whether in Europe or the world - Messi
and Ronaldo have been on them for the best part of the decade.
Since the inception of the
Uefa Men's Player of the Year award in 2011, Ronaldo has won it three times
(2014, 2016, 2017), while Messi has won it twice (2011 and 2015).
The pair are in the running
once again after phenomenal seasons. Ronaldo helped Juventus win Serie A while
Messi led Barcelona to the La Liga title.
But how does their form over
the past year compare?
Between 31 July 2018 and 31 July 2019,
Messi was by far the deadlier finisher for club and country. During that
12-month period he scored 54 goals to Ronaldo's 31 and boasted a
goals-per-minute ratio of 86 minutes, compared to 127 for his Portuguese rival.
Messi also did much better
than he would be expected to do with the opportunities that came his way,
scoring just under 15 more goals than his expected goals tally
(35.62) for Barcelona. Ronaldo, meanwhile, scored 28 goals, pretty much on par
with his expected goals total (28.3).
Widening out the comparison
to the rest of Europe, Messi outscored all his rivals - his closest challenger,
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, scored 11 goals fewer than the
Argentina international with 40.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, was
outscored by eight players in Europe's top five leagues while his total of 21
league goals was bettered by three players in Serie A.
Van Dijk has been a revelation for
Liverpool since joining from Southampton and was an integral part of the side
that won the Champions League last season and pushed eventual Premier League champions
Manchester City all the way.
A defender has never won the
award before so for the Dutch international to be in the running against Messi
and Ronaldo is already a big achievement.
But can he be crowned
Europe's best player? Let's take a look at his statistics from 2018-19.
Van Dijk made a total of 59
appearances for club and country last season, scoring nine goals and providing
four assists. He also played more minutes for Liverpool (4,465) than any other
outfield player. In all competitions, meanwhile, he won over 70% of his duels
and aerial battles, underlining his importance at the heart of the defence.
Liverpool conceded fewer goals (22) than
any other Premier League side last season and Van Dijk was key to that as he
won 76.3% of his duels in the league.
Compare that to other
defenders in Europe's top five leagues and, of the 293 defenders to be involved
in 200 or more duels in 2018-19, no player won a higher percentage than Van
Dijk.
It was only to be expected that
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp would be singing his defender's praises after the
Reds brushed aside Premier League rivals Arsenal 3-1 on Saturday, but the
former Borussia Dortmund boss feels it is the right time for a defender to be
recognised as Europe's best.
"Modern football should
be a bit more open for these things," he said.
"We don't have to talk
just about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. If we talk about last season,
Virgil deserves it; if we talk about lifetime career then Messi and Ronaldo
fight for it.
"It is good for kids to
see you can be a superstar even if you only defend."
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