UEFA Men’s Player of the Year

FC Bayern München forward Robert Lewandowski has been crowned UEFA Men’s Player of the Year 2019/20. The announcement was made at today’s 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Geneva, Switzerland. The Polish striker, who was the pillar of his club’s sixth European title last season, wins this award for the first time.

The jury was composed of the 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stages of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group from each of UEFA’s member associations. The final result was based on the total number of points from the votes cast by the coaches and journalists.

Robert Lewandowski collected a total of 477 points, with Manchester City FC and Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (90 points) and FC Bayern München and Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (66 points) taking second and third places respectively.

Receiving the award on stage, 32-year-old Lewandowksi said:

“Receiving this award is an amazing feeling. To work so hard and then get this trophy is really special. I have to say thank you to my team-mates, the staff and coaches because they work very hard to prepare me for the games. Also to my family, who support me a lot, and that’s very important.

“When I was young I always dreamed of playing in the biggest stadiums and for the biggest clubs in the world. Standing here on the stage is a dream come true and I’m very grateful, proud and happy.”

UEFA Women’s Player of the Year

Pernille Harder was named as UEFA Women’s Player of the Year 2019/20 at the same ceremony in Geneva. The Danish striker wins this award for the second time after 2018.

The former VfL Wolfsburg and current Chelsea FC Women forward obtained a total of 92 points in a special poll featuring journalists and coaches. Olympique Lyonnais and France defender Wendie Renard came second with 81 points, while another former Olympique Lyonnais and current Manchester City Women FC England international Lucy Bronze finished third with 28 points.

The jury was composed of the coaches of the eight clubs which participated in the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League final tournament in Spain, together with the coaches of the 12 highest-ranked teams in the latest UEFA women’s national team rankings. Also on the panel were 20 journalists specialising in women’s football, who were selected by the ESM group. The final result was based on the total number of points from the votes cast by the coaches and journalists.

In a video-recorded message, the Danish forward Harder said:

“I am very honoured to receive this award. It’s one of the biggest accolades a player can achieve individually in football, so I am very happy and proud for this.

“It shows that all the hard work and sacrifices I have made over the years have paid off, when you are named as the UEFA women’s player of the year.

“There are also people I would like to thank: my former club Wolfsburg, and all the players in the team who of course helped me to win this award. Football is a team sport, and without them I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this.

“Now I am looking forward to the up-coming season and playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League with my new club Chelsea. This is an amazing club and I am very proud to be a part of it. I am really looking forward to future successes with my new teammates.”

On the same occasion, and for the first time, UEFA also honoured the coaches who had the biggest impact over the previous season.

UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year

In the first-ever presentation of the award, Hans-Dieter Flick received the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year 2019/20 award. The German coach, who led FC Bayern München to their sixth European title last season, received a total of 476 points in a special poll featuring journalists and coaches. Liverpool FC coach Jürgen Klopp came second with 212 points, while fellow German coach Julian Nagelsmann* of RB Leipzig was third with 76 points.

The jury was composed of 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stages of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, together with 55 journalists from each of UEFA’s 55 member associations, selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group.

*Coaches Julian Nagelsmann (RB Leipzig) and Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain) obtained the same number of points (76), but the coach of RB Leipzig finished third because of a higher number of maximum points in the votes cast by the coaches and journalists.

Receiving the award on stage, the 55-year-old Flick said:

“It’s a great honour to be Europe’s coach of the year. Without my staff around me I could never have done it. They supported me in terms of tactics and everything else so that I was able to focus on the team and the players.

“It’s been a crazy year with the lockdown, but step by step we got used to the new normal, going from match to match, making sure we won them all with the Bundesliga, the German Cup and then in Lisbon with the Champions League. It was a sensational feeling and a dream come true. Seeing the pictures now brings back a lot of emotions.

“There were a lot of big moments to recall from this season but we really saw how the team developed. They showed an incredible mentality. We had winners in every position. The whole team did a great job by taking it one game at a time. They really developed and showed belief in their own abilities.”

UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year

In the inaugural year of the award, Jean-Luc Vasseur was voted UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year 2019/20. The French coach, who led Olympique Lyonnais last season to a record seventh European title and fifth in a row, collected a total of 122 points in a special poll featuring journalists and coaches. VfL Wolfsburg coach Stephan Lerch (Germany) came second with 78 points, while FC Barcelona coach Lluís Cortés (Spain) was third with 36 points.

The jury was composed of the coaches of the eight clubs which participated in the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League final tournament, together with the coaches of the 12 highest-ranked teams in the latest UEFA women’s national team rankings. Twenty journalists specialising in women’s football and selected by the ESM group were also part of the jury.

In a video-recorded message, 51-year-old Vasseur said:

“Taking over a team of such quality has been a very big challenge, as the club had to remain at the same top level in Europe. The more difficult the challenges are, the more I will have to take them on in order to move forward.

“I would like to thank my players, because they are real champions, it’s extraordinary to coach them every day. Thanks also to the technical and medical staff, as without their support, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today.

“And of course, I would like to thank the club’s management and our president, Jean-Michel Aulas, for the trust he has showed in this team and helping to bring them to the highest possible level.”

The UEFA Player and Coach of the Year awards recognise the best players and coaches, irrespective of their nationality, who have played for a football team or have coached a football team within the territory of a UEFA member national association. The awards are based on players’ and coaches’ performances during the 2019/20 season in all competitions, both domestic and international, and at club and national team levels.

UEFA Champions League Players of the Season

Four players were presented with the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League positional awards during the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage draw.

The jury for these awards was comprised of the coaches of the 32 clubs which participated in the group stage of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League, together with 55 journalists selected by the ESM group. The final result was based on the total number of points from the votes cast by the coaches and journalists.

Manuel Neuer (Germany, FC Bayern München) was crowned UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season, amassing a total of 376 points and finishing ahead of Jan Oblak (Slovenia, Club Atlético de Madrid), who collected 92 points, and Keylor Navas (Costa Rica, Paris Saint-Germain), who obtained 89 points.

Joshua Kimmich (Germany, FC Bayern München) was named UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season with a total of 161 points. His teammates Alphonso Davies (Canada, FC Bayern München) finished second with 138 points and David Alaba (Austria, FC Bayern München) came in third with 119 points.

Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City FC) was crowned UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season, picking up a total of 171 points, while Thiago Alcantara (Spain, FC Bayern München, now with FC Liverpool) obtained 169 points to finish second and Thomas Müller (Germany, FC Bayern München) ranked third with 78 points.

Robert Lewandowksi (Poland, FC Bayern München) was named UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season, obtaining a total of 361 points. Kylian Mbappé (France, Paris Saint-Germain) came second with 72 points and teammate Neymar (Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain) was third with 62 points.

UEFA Women’s Champions League Players of the Season

At the same ceremony, four women’s players were presented with the first UEFA Women’s Champions League positional awards.

The jury for these awards was composed of the coaches of the eight clubs which participated in the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League final tournament in Spain, together with 20 journalists specialising in women’s football and selected by the ESM group. The final result was based on the total number of points from the votes cast by the coaches and journalists.

Sarah Bouhaddi (France, Olympique Lyonnais) was crowned UEFA Women’s Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season, amassing a total of 100 points and finishing ahead of Christiane Endler (Chile, Paris Saint-Germain), who collected 60 points, and Sandra Paños (Spain, FC Barcelona), who picked up 39 points.

Wendie Renard (France, Olympique Lyonnais) was named UEFA Women’s Champions League Defender of the Season with a total of 102 points. Lucy Bronze (England, Olympique Lyonnais, now at Manchester City Women FC) finished second with 85 points and Lena Goeßling (Germany, VfL Wolfsburg) came in third with 9 points.

Dzsenifer Marozsán (Germany, Olympique Lyonnais) was crowned UEFA Women’s Champions League Midfielder of the Season, picking up a total of 66 points, while Alexandra Popp (Germany, VfL Wolfsburg) obtained 30 points to finish second and Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir (Iceland, Olympique Lyonnais, formerly at VfL Wolfsburg) ranked third with 19 points.

Pernille Harder (Denmark, VfL Wolfsburg, now at Chelsea FC Women) was named UEFA Women’s Champions League Forward of the Season, achieving a total of 93 points. Delphine Cascarino (France, Olympique Lyonnais) came second with 32 points and Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands, Arsenal Women FC) was third with 31 points.

Finally, during the awards ceremony, Ivory Coast football legend Didier Drogba was presented with the 2020 UEFA President’s Award by UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin for his outstanding career and services to football both on and off the pitch.

(UEFA)