Temas: UEFA Champions League, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gianluigi Buffon
The award will be handed to the winner during the UEFA Gala on August 24, the same date when the UEFA Champions League draw takes place.

UEFA's website revealed the three candidates to win the UEFA Player of the Year award. After a careful analysis, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon will battle to win ths trophy.

The Portuguese ace is gunning to win the trophy for a second straight year. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi will be hoping to win this award for the third time ever, whilst "Gigi" Buffon makes his first appearance in the Top 3 European players, after finishing 4th in 2015 and 6th in 2016.

Here's how the UEFA Champions League Twitter feed unveiled each one of the contenders.

Gianluigi Buffon

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

 

Other players were considered for the award, and even if they didn't make it to the Top 3, being included among the ten best players in Europe has to be quite an honor. That list includes, in order of appearance, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Paulo Dybala, Sergio Ramos, Kylian Mbappé, Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the only player to perform in the UEFA Europa League to be included in this list.

 

The awards ceremony will take place on August 24.