The Union of European Football Associations or UEFA announced the shortlist for their prestigious UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

Europe's governing body for football announced the 10-man shortlist. The three finalists will be announced on August 12. On August 28, the sole winner of the coveted award will be revealed after a jury vote at the Champions League group stage draw also to be held at the same day in Monaco.

Champions leading the list

The Barcelona striking trio Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez are each going up against Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, Chelsea's Eden Hazard and five players from Italian club Juventus to bag the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2014-15 season, according to UEFA's website.

Messi, Neymar and Suarez made 120 goals last season, setting a Spanish record for most goals by a trio to help Barcelona complete a Treble, reported ESPN FC.

Camp Nou and the Barcelona trio beat Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final this year, although the Italian footballers have bested Barcelona in the number of players included in the shortlist. Five Juventus players represent Italia in UEFA's list - Gianluigi Buffon, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo. The last two now play for Boca Juniors and New York City FC, respectively.

English superstar Hazard won the PFA Player of the Year award and helped propel Jose Mourinho's Chelsea to nabbing the Premier League championship title last season as noted on The Guardian.

Cristiano's Real Madrid have had early exits in leagues last term.

Prestige and dominance

The UEFA Best Player in Europe Award is given to any football player playing for a UEFA/ European club that is considered to have the best showing in all of the previous season. The UEFA created the award in 2011, for the purpose of reviving the historically prestigious European Footballer of the Year Award, more known as the Ballon d'Or.

Today, the original Ballon d'Or has merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. It is now called FIFA Ballon d'Or, also effectively replacing the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.

The first UEFA Best Player in Europe Award was won by Argentinian football superstar Lionel Messi in 2011, followed by Andrés Iniesta in 2012. Franck Ribery of the German club Bayern Munich won the next year. Cristiano Ronaldo won last year's award, beating Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben.

Alongside the announcement, UEFA also released the Best Women's Player of 2014-15 shortlist, including: Nadine Angerer, Ramona Bachmann, Veronica Boquete, Amandine Henry, Simone Laudehr, Eugenie Le Sommer, Wendie Renard, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Anja Mittag, Alexandra Popp, Celia Sasic and Caroline Seger.