The Malta Independent's Sports Editor, Henry Brincat, will be representing Malta at today's UEFA Best Player in Europe Award ceremony in Monaco.
UEFA has again invited members of the press from around Europe - one from almost every member association - to vote for the Best Player of season 2018/2019.
The award was created in partnership with European Sports Media. It recognises the best player, irrespective of his nationality, playing for a club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the previous season.
Two preliminary voting sessions have already been made following which, the 55 members of the jury selected a shortlist of three players to contest the final. These are Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus and Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk.
The finalists
Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
The top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League and the European Golden Shoe winner picked up his tenth Liga title.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)
The UEFA Nations League winner and top goalscorer at the finals also scooped his first Serie A title.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)
The final man of the match for the UEFA Champions League winners also reached the UEFA Nations League showpiece.
The rest of the top ten
4 Alisson Becker (Liverpool & Brazil) - 57 points
5 Sadio Mané (Liverpool & Senegal) - 51 points
6 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) - 49 points
7 Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid & Belgium) - 38 points
8= Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus & Netherlands) - 27 points
8= Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona & Netherlands) - 27 points
10 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City & England) - 12 points
What is the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award?
For this award, players in Europe, irrespective of nationality, have been judged in regard to their performances over the whole season in all competitions - both domestically and internationally - at either club, or national team level.
How were the players shortlisted?
The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48), along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each of UEFA's member associations.
Jury members chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The other award shortlists
Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson Becker, Hugo Lloris, Marc-André ter Stegen
Defender of the Season: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk
Midfielder of the Season: Frenkie de Jong, Christian Eriksen, Jordan Henderson
Forward of the Season: Sadio Mané, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo
Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry
Europa League Player of the Season: Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard, Luka Jović
These accolades were introduced two years ago to recognise the season's best player in each position in Europe's premier club competition.
Together with these awards, the UEFA Women's Player of the Year will also be announced this evening.
The winners will also be announced after the UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco today.
Europa League Player of the Year
Giroud, Hazard and Jović make up this year's shortlist
The UEFA Player of the Season will be announced tomorrow after the Europa League group stage draw ceremony.
Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard and Luka Jović have been shortlisted for the award.
Chelsea's Giroud was the top scorer in last season's competition, registering 11 goals in 14 matches. The Frenchman also chipped in with five assists and was the focal point of a prolific Blues attack.
His team-mate at the time, Hazard, (now at Real Madrid), was man of the match as Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 in the Baku final, the brilliant Belgian scoring twice on his farewell appearance for the club before joining Real Madrid.
Jović, meanwhile, was the standout performer for an Eintracht Frankfurt side that lit up the competition before losing on penalties to Chelsea in the semis. The Serbia forward struck ten times in 14 games, also convincing Real Madrid to recruit him this summer.