UEFA honors an unrepeatable Champions League – Marca

It was an epic. A story. The best advertising campaign that UEFA executives could dream of in their offices in Nyon to further promote their star competition. That is what Real Madrid did in the last edition of the Champions League until winning the Fourteenth. His incredible comebacks at the Bernabu against Paris Saint Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City are already part of the history of this competition, which in 65 years of history has seen nothing like it. As the lucky ones who had the privilege of witnessing it live did not see anything like it. Because it was something unrepeatable. For this reason, during the UEFA Gala that will be held tomorrow (18:00) at the Hali Congress Center in Istanbul to kick off the European competitions with the draw for the group stage of the different tournaments, the maximum organization of continental football will adorn Real Madrid, which, except for a huge surprise, will monopolize most of the individual prizes. Well born is to be grateful, although relations between the institution and the white club are not going through their best moment. Goal by Vincius Jr. (0-1) at Liverpool 0-1 Real MadridBENZEMA MVP AND VINCIUS BEST YOUNG MANThree days after Madrid defeated Liverpool in Paris, on May 31, UEFA already announced the first winners at the level individual. There were no doubts or surprises and Karim Benzema was named MVP or best player of the competition for his 15 goals in 12 games and his starring role as leader of the European champions. For his part, Vincius was chosen as the best young footballer of the competition. The ideal eleven for the Champions League was also chosen, in which there were four Real Madrid players: Courtois, Modric, Vincius and Benzema. Well, you could say four and a half given that Rudiger was also in there for his role with Chelsea. Three Liverpool defenders (Robertson, Van Dijk and Alexander Arnold), two Premier League midfielders (De Bruijn and Fabinho) and Mbapp up front along with the Madrid couple completed the team. All seven were victims of white competitive greed last year. These elections were commissioned by a panel of UEFA technical observers.UEFA PLAYER AND COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDSTomorrow in Istanbul, the UEFA Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and UEFA Coach of the Year awards will be presented. Ao, as well as last season’s positional awards for the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward in each of the Champions and Women’s Champions competitions. There is also an award for Player of the Year in the Europa League. The awards for Best Player and Coach of the Year in the male and female categories are voted on by a jury made up of the coaches who participated in the group stage of the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference, together with a group of 55 journalists representing each of the UEFA member countries, selected by the European Sports Media (ESM). MARCA is the Spanish representative on this jury. Courtois’s brutal save to avoid Man’s great goal in the 21st minute BENZEMA AND ANCELOTTI, CLEAR FAVORITES For the UEFA Player of the Year award, the great favorite is none other than Karim Benzema, who at 34 years of age is facing the opportunity to conquer his first major individual award thanks to his 44 goals and 15 assists in 46 games. The other two finalists are Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne. UEFA’s panel of technical observers made a first selection of 15 nominees, and from there the coaches and journalists chose their three candidates, allocating five points to the first, three to the second and one to the third. UEFA communicated days ago the order of the players chosen from fourth to fifteenth place. Lewandowski was fourth, 5 Modric, 6 Man, 7 Salah, 8 Mbapp, 9 Vincius, 10 Van Dijk, 11 Bernardo Silva, 12 Kostic, 13 Pellegrini, 14 Alexander-Arnold and 15 Fabinho. Regarding the coaches, the main candidate to win the Best Coach trophy is Carlo Ancelotti, in a trio in which he is joined by Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. Usually this award is won by the coach of the champion of the Champions League. Ancelotti: “If Benzema gets a cold, we adapt”