UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea FC dominated the positional awards in the 2020/2021 UEFA awards that were crowned on Thursday night alongside the 2021/2022 Champions League draw.

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Manchester City defender Ruben Dias, Chelsea star midfielder N’Golo Kante and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland won the positional awards for the 2020-21 Champions League.

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. PHOTO: Courtesy

Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy kept nine clean sheets in last season’s UEFA Champions League as the Blues went on to lift the trophy for the second time in the club’s history, beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final held at Porto on May 29 this year.

City defender Ruben Dias who also doubles up as Premier League Player of the season 2020/21, was named the UEFA defender of the year, whilst Chelsea midfield maestro Ng’olo Kante won the prize for midfielders. Kante had been named UEFA’s man of the match in each leg of the semi-final and the final.

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias. PHOTO: Courtesy

Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland was chosen as the best forward in 2020/21 undoubtedly for his immense goal contribution to the Bundesliga side.

The players were chosen from a shortlist of 12, who had each received the most points in each positional category following a jury vote. The jury comprised coaches from the 32 clubs that entered into the group stage last season, as well as 55 journalists representing UEFA’s 55 member associations. Coaches could not vote for players from their own teams.

Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland. PHOTO: Courtesy

Remarkably, a record five of the 12 nominees were from Chelsea with Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Kante, and Jorginho all nominated for their role in Chelsea’s European triumph.

Manchester City on the other hand had three representatives in Ederson, Dias, and Kevin De Bruyne, while beaten semi-finalists Real Madrid and PSG provided one each, Thibaut Courtois, and Kylian Mbappe respectively

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Haaland, who finished as a top scorer last season with 10, were the other nominees.

Haaland battled it out with Lewandowski and Mbappe but the jury thought he was best fit to be crowned the forward of the season.

In midfield, it was a replica of the battle for UEFA Men’s player of the year as Chelsea’s Ng’olo Kante and Jorginho faced it out with De Bruyne. Notably, Jorginho has been crowned the UEFA Men’s player of the year, mostly due to the impact he also had on his national team, Italy who won the UEFA Euro 2020.

In the defence line, Dias battled with two Chelsea players, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta. In goal, Mendy came on top of Manchester City’s Ederson and Real Madrid, and Belgium number one Thibaut Courtois.

The 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League campaign is expected to kick off in September after the draw was finished on Thursday night.