Friday , March 29 2024

Cristiano Ronaldo favourite for UEFA’s best player award

Although they may be teammates on the field, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will be competing against each other on Thursday night for the right to become Europe’s brightest star.

The Real Madrid players made the final shortlist along with French international Antoine Griezmann for UEFA’s Best Player in Europe Award, which will be presented to the winner at a gala in Monaco.

Ronaldo is the favourite to take the award, having had the most successful season of his career, scoring the winning penalty in the Champions League final and winning the European Championship with Portugal.

While Griezmann was on the losing side in both of those finals, the Atletico Madrid forward says he ‘deserves’ the award after the great season he had, scoring 32 goals in all competitions for his club, as well as netting seven times in his last ten appearances for France.

It is the first time both the Frenchman and Bale have been nominated for the award, but the Welshman will be hoping to use this as a stepping stone to a future Ballon d’Or, having won a second Champions League trophy and guiding Wales to the semi-finals of EURO 2016, where they ultimately lost 2-0 to Ronaldo’s Portugal.

Ronaldo will be hoping to become the second player to win the award twice, after Lionel Messi achieved the feat in both 2011 and 2012.

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