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Lionel Messi beats Virgil van Dijk to European Player of the Season award

Messi beats Van Dijk to European Player of the Season award
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Barcelona's Lionel Messi is named as the European Player of the Season ahead of Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk and Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt.

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been named the European Player of the Season in Sports Mole's 2018-19 Reader Awards.

Messi was again in sensational form throughout the campaign as Barcelona retained the La Liga title, scoring 36 goals in 34 league games and 51 in 49 outings across all competitions.

The Spanish giants fell short in both the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, but Messi's individual form was still enough for him to earn 30.4% of the votes as the overall player of the season.

Virgil van Dijk, who helped Liverpool pull off a miraculous comeback over Messi's Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League, came second in the voting with 20.8%.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was also in the top three of the voting, while Ajax skipper Matthijs de Ligt was among the frontrunners having led his club to a domestic double and the Champions League semi-finals at the age of just 19.

Juventus's Cristiano Ronaldo garnered just 8% of the votes following his move from Real Madrid last summer, while Bernardo Silva's Manchester City form earned him 7.2%.

Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe and Ajax duo Frenkie de Jong and Dusan Tadic also made the final shortlist.

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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk celebrates scoring against Newcastle on May 4, 2019
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City38287396346291
2Arsenal38285591296289
3Liverpool382410486414582
4Aston Villa382081076611568
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs382061274611366
6Chelsea381891177631463
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle381861485622360
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd38186145758-160
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham381410146074-1452
10Crystal Palace381310155758-149
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton381212145562-748
12Bournemouth38139165467-1348
13Fulham38138175561-647
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves38137185065-1546
15Everton38139164051-1140
16Brentford38109195665-939
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3899204967-1832
RLuton TownLuton3868245285-3326
RBurnley3859244178-3724
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd38372835104-6916


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