Messi and Ronaldo lost to Van Dijk for the UEFA award.

He got the Men’s Player of the Year award for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League season on Thursday. Virgil van Dijk is a defender for Liverpool.

Van Dijk was up against Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus and Lionel Messi of Barcelona for the award. Between them, they had 305 points and 207 points. With only 74 points, Ronaldo had to settle for third place. The 29-year-old also won the award for Defender of the Season.

He was named Premier League Player of the Season in May. He was the first defender to win Player of the Season in seven years, since Vincent Kompany of Manchester City did it in 2011–12.

In the beginning of the year, Van Dijk won the PFA Players’ Player of the Season award as well as the Liverpool Players’ and Fans’ awards.

Messi did, however, win the Forward of the Season honor.

Messi had 285 points, while Sadio Mane, who came in second, only had 109 points.

The Argentine scored the most goals in the UEFA Champions League and also led the league in goals scored and assists.