Friday 5 August 2016 12:36, UK
The UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2016 is destined for Madrid after Real pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale plus Atletico's Antoine Griezmann were shortlisted, with Barcelona's Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi missing out.
Bale led Wales on a wonderful run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals and also won the Champions League with Real, and while Griezmann was a beaten finalist in both of those tournaments he was the top scorer at the Euros this summer.
Ronaldo is tipped to pip both of them to the award, however, after captaining Portugal to their first ever International tournament win in France in July.
The winner will be revealed in late August. Lionel Messi won the award in 2015 but was ranked fifth on this year's original list behind his team-mate Luis Suarez.
As in previous years, journalists from each of UEFA's 55 member associations provided an initial list of their five best-ranked players, with the first receiving five points, the second four, and so on. The ten players with the most points advanced to a second round of voting, which has determined the three finalists named.
