FC Barcelona: Martens and Hermoso lead nominees for Women’s Champions League awards | OneFootball

Seven Barcelona players have been nominated for the UEFA Women’s Champions League positional awards, with the winners to be revealed in Istanbul on 26th August.

In total, 12 players have been shortlisted across four positions –– goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward.

Barcelona won their first European title back in May -- thrashing Chelsea 4-0 in Gothenburg.

Their outstanding performance means a number of their players are understandably nominated in each individual category.

Sandra Paños is up for the goalkeeper award, alongside former PSG player Christiane Endler and the outstanding Ann-Katrin Berger for Chelsea.

María Pilar León is one of three contenders in the defender bracket, alongside another former PSG player in Irene Paredes, who joined Barcelona this summer after captaining the Parisian side to the league title last season.

Chelsea skipper Magdalena Eriksson is the third player up for the defender title, having guided her team to a first ever European final.

There are two more Barcelona players nominated for the midfielder award. Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas are up against Chelsea’s Ji So-yun –– who finished ahead of former Manchester City player Sam Mewis in the voting.

In the forward category, it’s a clean sweep of nominees for the Spanish champions. Caroline Graham Hansen, Jennifer Hermoso and Lieke Martens are up for the award, with Chelsea’s Fran Kirby narrowly missing out.

None of the four players who claimed the inaugural awards last year are in contention this year. Sarah Bouhaddi won the keeper crown, Lyon captain Wendie Renard scooped the defender award, while Dzsenifer Marozsán and Pernille Harder won the midfielder and forward honours respectively.

The awards were introduced for the first time last year in order to recognise the season’s best players for each position in Europe’s premier club competition.

The winners will be announced on the same night as the UEFA Women’s Player and Coach of the Year plus the UEFA Men’s Player and Coach of the Year.