De Bruyne, Jorginho & Kante nominated for UEFA Player of the Year award
Barcelona trio Jennifer Hermoso, Lieke Martens and Alexia Putellas have all been nominated for the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year, while Pep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel and Roberto Mancini are the three Coach of the Year nominees.
As for the Women’s Coach of the Year, Lluis Cortes, Peter Gerhardsson and Emma Hayes are all in the running for the award. The winners will be revealed at the 2021-22 Champions League group-stage draw ceremony on August 26.
Chelsea duo Jorginho and Kante are two of the nominees for the UEFA award after enjoying a stellar 2020-21 campaign that saw the Premier League club lift the Champions League.
Both players started the Champions League final win over Manchester City, with Kai Havertz’s first-half strike proving the difference between the two sides in Portugal.
Tuchel’s side also secured qualification for Europe’s premier club competition for the 2021-22 campaign courtesy of their fourth-placed finish in the table, while they would also lift the UEFA Super Cup by beating Villarreal.
In what was a remarkable year individually for Jorginho, the 29-year-old would also go on to win the European Championship with Italy.
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The third nominee for the men’s award is Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne.
Despite a season disrupted by injury, De Bruyne played a pivotal role to help City win the Premier League title, with his exploits seeing him awarded the PFA Player of the Year award for the second season in a row.
The Women’s list of nominees is comprised solely of Barcelona players.
Hermoso, Martens and Putellas have all been recognised during a season that saw Barca Femeni storm to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League final.
The trio all started that match in Gothenburg, with Putellas getting on the scoresheet, while they also won the Women’s Primera Division title and the Copa del Reina, where they beat Levante in the final.
As for the Men’s Coach of the Year, Tuchel, following his exploits with Chelsea after replacing Frank Lampard, is up for the award along with Manchester City boss Guardiola.
Mancini, meanwhile, helped deliver European Championship glory for Italy and he completes the three-man shortlist.
The Women’s Coach of the Year nominees include, as expected, former Barcelona head coach Cortes after he steered the Catalans to a treble-winning 2020-21 season prior to resigning from the role.
Sweden women’s national team boss Gerhardsson is also included on the list, with his side earning a silver medal at the Olympics, narrowly losing the final to champions Canada on penalties.