ALL THE BEST TO OUR FUTURE CAPTAIN VVD
Uefa will name its Men's Player of the Year on Thursday with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk up against Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the award.
Van Dijk has been a revelation for Liverpool since joining from Southampton and was an integral part of the side that won the Champions League last season and pushed eventual Premier League champions Manchester City all the way.
A defender has never won the award before so for the Dutch international to be in the running against Messi and Ronaldo is already a big achievement.
Van Dijk made a total of 59 appearances for club and country last season, scoring nine goals and providing four assists. He also played more minutes for Liverpool (4,465) than any other outfield player. In all competitions, meanwhile, he won over 70% of his duels and aerial battles, underlining his importance at the heart of the defence.
Virgil van Dijk
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Liverpool conceded fewer goals (22) than any other Premier League side last season and Van Dijk was key to that as he won 76.3% of his duels in the league.
Compare that to other defenders in Europe's top five leagues and, of the 293 defenders to be involved in 200 or more duels in 2018-19, no player won a higher percentage than Van Dijk.