11 Real Madrid players nominated for UEFA team of the year

Real Madrid lead the nominations for this year UEFA best eleven as eleven players from last season's Champions League triumphant squad were nominated. 

UEFA has released a 50-player shortlist from which fans can vote for their favorite player in each position. The list which was compiled by reporters and correspondents on UEFA.com is based on players’ performances for an European club or national team in UEFA competitions in the 2017 calendar year.

The shortlist is made up of 5 goalkeepers, 15 defenders, 15 midfielders and 15 forwards.

Current UEFA Men's Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo leads the Real Madrid nominee contingent. The Portuguese star is on the shortlist for a record 14th time.

The eleven nominated Real Madrid players are:

Keylor Navas, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Marco Asensio, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema.

Barcelona and Champions League runners up Juventus have five players each on the shortlist. Followed by Atlético Madrid and UEFA Cup winners Manchester United with four nominees each.

Voting has started on the official UEFA website and will run till Tuesday January 9 2018.

🌠 #TeamOfTheYear 🌠

1⃣1⃣ places.
5⃣0⃣ stars.
YOU, the fans, decide. 🙌

👇👇 Make your 2017 dream team! 👇👇 https://t.co/mG5s4zD2xj

— ★ #TeamOfTheYear ★ (@ChampionsLeague) November 22, 2017

Here is a shortlist of the 50 nominated players

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), David de Gea (Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid).

Defenders: Dani Alves (Juventus/PSG), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Milan), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chellini (Juventus), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Benjamin Mendy (Monaco/Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (PSG), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Davinson Sánchez (Ajax/Tottenham), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United).

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Fabinho (Monaco), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Isco (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético Madrid).

Forwards: Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappé (Monaco/PSG), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Neymar (Barcelona/PSG), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Luis Suárez (Barcelona).