Paris (AFP)
Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer, Champions League winners with Bayern Munich, as well as Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), are the three finalists for the best player of the year award from UEFA, leaving behind Parisians Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
Finalist of the C1, Paris SG no longer has a candidate in the running to succeed Virgil van Dijk, who won last year.
Neymar ranks fourth, tied with Lionel Messi, and Mbappé 7th.
The two Parisians are only selected for the award for best striker of the year, alongside Lewandowski.
In women, two of the three finalists won the C1 with Lyon: its captain, the French Wendie Renard, and the English Lucy Bronze, already winner last year and left this summer for Manchester City.
The Danish Pernille Harder, transferred in early September from Wolfsburg to Chelsea, completes the list.
The newly created male coach of the year award will inevitably go to a German: Hansi Flick (Bayern Munich), Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool) or Julian Nagelsmann (Leipzig).
On the women's side, Lluis Cortés (FC Barcelona), Stephan Lerch (Wolfsburg) and Jean-Luc Vasseur (Lyon) are finalists.
The prizes will be awarded on October 1, the day of the draw for the 2020/21 Champions League group stage.
The candidates are selected by a jury made up of 80 coaches from clubs that have participated in the Champions League and the Europa League, as well as 55 journalists from European media, including AFP.
© 2020 AFP