Hazard Wins UEFA EL Men’s Player of Year Award

Mohamed Helba

The Belgian attacking midfielder Eden Hazard has been named the UEFA Europa League Men's player of the year for the 2018-19 season on Friday.

Hazard was announced as the recipient of the honor at the draw for the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League group stage in Monaco, defeating Giroud, Jović in the process.

https://twitter.com/EuropaLeague/status/1167393106393796610

"The winner was decided by a vote of the coaches of the 48 clubs in last season's group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each UEFA member association," according to the official website of the UEFA.

Hazard ranked first with 340 points, while the Blues' forward Olivier Giroud came second with 119. Real Madrid striker Luka Jović came third with 94 points.

The 28-year-old player, who got 340 points during the vote, was selected for this award due to his efforts with the Blues as he guided his team to claim the 2018-19 Europa League title after crushing Arsenal 4-1.

He was named as the man of the match during the final game against the Gunners.

Earlier, the Europa League group stage draw for the 2019-20 season was revealed. Last year’s runner-up Arsenal were pooled in Group F, alongside Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege, and Vitoria.

Europa League draw is as follows:

Group A: Sevilla, Apoel Nicosia, Qarabag, Dudelange.

Group B: Dynamo Kiev, FC Copenhagen, Malmo, FC Lugano.

Group C: FC Basel, FC Krasnodar, Getafe, Trabzonspor.

Group D: Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Rosenborg, Lask.

Group E: Lazio, Celtic, Rennes, Cluj.

Group F: Arsenal, Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege, Vitoria.

Group G: Porto, Young Boys, Feyenoord, Rangers.

Group H: CSKA Moscow, Ludogorets, Espanyol, Ferencvaros.

Group I: Wolfsburg, Gent, Saint Etienne, Olexandriya.

Group J: Roma, Borussia Monchengladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, Wolfsberger.

Group K: Besiktas, Braga, Wolves, Slovan Bratislava.