August 19, (THEWILL) – The impressive performance of English Premier League sides at last year’s UEFA Champions League competition and the Euro tournament has seen a trio of players from the two sides that reached the final, Chelsea and Manchester City, nominated for the year’s UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award.
City’s Kevin De Bruyne and the Chelsea pair of Jorginho and N’Golo Kante are the three nominees for the 2020/21 season and one of them will be named winner at the Champions League draw on August 26. The following day, August 27, the Europa League equivalent will also be announced.
The playmaker for the runners up, De Bruyne was an underwhelming feature at the Euro 2020 for Belgium and that may not be removed from the tough schedule he had all season at the Etihad and the facial inquiry he sustained in the final against Chelsea. He was at the creative heart of the team’s EPL success.
He was also making a difference in the City midfield until that facial injury saw him subbed off prematurely in the UCL final but there was enough of the tactical difference that Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel made to his side’s game to give the Blues the better of their second consecutive encounter against Pep Guardiola’s side.
For the winning Tuchel side, Jorginho was a significant constant and a force of disciplined doggedness along the way to the final of the UCL. It was a feat he replicated for Italy on the path to clinching the Euro 2020 trophy, in that remarkable penalty shootout victory over England at Wembley as THEWILL reported.
However, Chelsea’s victory cannot be recalled with the immense contribution that Kante made. In his midfield role as Chelsea enforcer, the Frenchman went beyond human determination to keep a compact defensive pattern while quickly advancing the forward line. Although he featured for France, their Euro 2020 team suffered a disappointing early exit.
The choice is down to three after nominations were voted on by 24 coaches of the countries which participated in this summer’s UEFA Euro 2020, 80 coaches of the clubs that took part in the group stages of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and 55 journalists chosen by the European Sports Media group, one from each of UEFA’s member associations.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
