© EuroFootball.com
Barcelona's attacking leader Lionel Messi triumphed in the first UEFA Best European Footballer award ceremony, convincingly beating his teammate Xavi Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
53 journalists voted for the best footballer - one from each UEFA member country.
After summing up the voting results, it became clear that L. Messi simply crushed his closest competitors. 38 media representatives voted for the Argentine, 11 for Xavi, and only three for C. Ronaldo.
The UEFA Best European Player awards replaced the UEFA Player of the Year awards previously held. The last winner was the 2010 Champions League winner Diego Milito from Inter Milan.
L. Messi, who became the winner of the new elections last season, scored a total of 53 goals, including 12 in the Champions League tournament.
"I would like to share this award with my teammates," said the Argentine at the ceremony in Monaco.
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina) - "Barcelona" (38 votes) 2. Xavi Hernandez (Spain) - "Barcelona" (11 votes) 3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - Real Madrid (3 votes) 4. Andres Iniesta (Spain) - "Barcelona" 5. Falcao (Colombia) - "Porto"* 6. Wayne Rooney (England) - "Man Utd" 7. Nemanja Vidic (Serbia) - "Man Utd" 8. Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) - "Milan" 9. Gerard Pique (Spain) - "Barcelona" 10. Manuel Neuer (Germany) - Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke 04"** * now representing Atletico Madrid ** now representing Bayern Munich
