Lionel Messi wins UEFA Best Player in Europe award 2011

Lionel Messi won the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award in Monaco on Thursday, He finishing ahead of Barcelona team mate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentine was the obvious winner of the 52 voters, 38 selected him. The second-most votes went to Xavi Hernandez with 11 votes, while Cristiano Ronaldo was a distant third with only three votes.

The vote conducted by sports journalists representing each of UEFA's member associations during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw.

Lionel Messi hit 53 goals last season, including 12 in the UEFA Champions League where he finished top scorer for the third successive season. His final European goal of the season was Barcelona's second in their 3-1 final defeat of Manchester United.

The full top ten is:

Rank	Nationality	Name	Club	Vote
1.	Argentina	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	38
2.	Spain	Xavi Hernandez	Barcelona	11
3.	Portugal	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	3
4.	Spain	Andres Iniesta	Barcelona	-
5.	Colombia	Radamel Falcao	Porto	-
6.	England	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	-
7.	Serbia	Nemanja Vidic	Manchester United	-
8.	Swedia	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	AC Milan	-
9.	Spain	Gerard Pique	Barcelona	-
10.	Germany	Manuel Neuer	Schalke 04	-

Continuous Reading → Lionel Messi wins UEFA Best Player in Europe award 2011

Nominee for Europe's Best Player award 2011

Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo nominated for Europe's Best Player award 2011, the shortlist was announced on Monday, According to uefa.com They will contest the inaugural Award on 25 August.

The final three will now go into a deciding vote in Monaco during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw, after a jury of 53 sports journalists representing each of the UEFA member associations scaled down the list. The 53 journalists will vote live, via an electronic system, for their best player from the shortlist of three, to determine the winner on 25 August.

Barcelona players dominate top ten list. Besides Messi and Xavi, Andres Iniesta are in fourth and Gerard Pique in the ninth.

Positions four to ten are already fixed after each journalist provided a list of their three best ranked players:

Rank	Nationality	Name	Club	Point
1.
2.
3.
4.	Spain	Andres Iniesta	Barcelona	33
5.	Colombia	Radamel Falcao	Porto	17
6.	England	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	15
7.	Serbia	Nemanja Vidic	Manchester United	5
8.	Swedia	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	AC Milan	4
9.	Spain	Gerard Pique	Barcelona	4
10.	Germany	Manuel Neuer	Schalke 04	3

Continuous Reading → Nominee for Europe's Best Player award 2011

Barcelona won the Spanish League, Xavi record history

Third straight win the Primera Liga, incised a record of accomplishment for Barcelona. Xavi Hernandez, for example. According to Mundo Deportivo records, a title he achieved this season to make himself as one of the largest collectors of the Primera Liga title in history.

Xavi become the third Barcelona player who could reach the record six-times champion in the Primera Liga. Xavi won five titles earlier in the season 1998-1999, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010.

Before Xavi, achievements is made legendary goalkeeper of Barcelona, ​​Antoni Ramallets, and former captain who is now the coach of Barcelona, Josep Guardiola.

Ramallets recorded his title as with Barcelona in 1946 until 1961. While, Guardiola reached in 1990 until 2001. However, when compared with the two his senior, Xavi had a record with no less classy. That is the player with most appearances in Barca. Total, Xavi has 623 appearances in all competitions with Barca.

Xavi, has into the main squad since 1998, several times felt the change of coach. Since the era of Louis Van Gaal, Carles Rexach, Radomir Antic, Frank Rijkaard, to Guardiola. However, anyone who handles Barca, Xavi as the playmaker position remains irreplaceable.

Xavi's skill:

Continuous Reading → Barcelona won the Spanish League, Xavi record history