Nyon (Switzerland) : Spanish giants FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was voted UEFA’s best player in Europe for 2014-2015 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.
The Argentina star, who won the Champions League, Spain’s La Liga and Spanish Cup with Barcelona, claimed the award for the second time.
He also won in 2010-2011 and succeeds Real Madrid rival Ronaldo who won last year. Messi was also declared winner of the UEFA’s goal of the season for 2014-2015.
Messi scored a stunning goal against German champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League first leg match of the semi-final on April 6.
The match was locked goalless till 77 minutes, then two goals from Messi and one from Neymar secured a spectacular 3-0 win for Barcelona at their home ground.
The Argentine left Bayern defender Jerome Boateng floundering before deftly chipping the ball over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to score his second goal of the match and put Barcelona into a commanding first-leg lead in their semi-final.
The Argentine skipper earned 39 percent of the 507478 number of votes polled. The second prize for the best goal went to Spanish team Real Madrid’s star striker Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike against English outfit Liverpool FC, which received 24 percent of the votes.
The third best goal was given to English club Aaron Ramsey’s effort against Turkish giants Galatasaray, which got 9 percent of the votes.
