Who Will Win The Uefa Club Awards?

I was in two minds whether it's a good idea to start this thread now since the ceremony is around one and a half months away but finally I couldn't resist.

Here's my take on the possible winners. Please give yours.

Best Goalkeeper
Victor Valdes has very little chance in spite of doing very well. Iker Casillas even less. The favorite could be Manuel Neuer due to his brilliant performance in the first leg against ManUtd but the legendary Edwin van der Sar's excellent performances just before retiring could swing the vote in his favor. I think it's mainly between the two of them.

Best Defender
Last season I think most of us felt that the award should have gone to Lucio but the voters went for Maicon. This season as far as I understand no central defender has been as outstanding as Lucio was last time. So why shouldn't Dani Alves win this? Let's hope so. If not him then I guess Nemanja Vidic is second in line. Finally Ricardo Carvalho may also be in with a chance.

Best Midfielder
It's very much between Xavi and Andres Iniesta but who out of the two. In 2009 when both were nominated Xavi won it. Iniesta had been a stand out in the semi final and final but Xavi had been brilliant right through. Now in 2011 here's what I can say about each of them. Although both played very well in the final, Xavi was better. In the semi final first leg Iniesta didn't play due to injury while Xavi was great. Iniesta did come in the second leg of the semi final and make a telling contribution. He also decided the tie against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first few minutes of the first leg itself with if I remember correctly two stand out moments. Last but not the least he played an absolutely crucial role in the second leg against Arsenal. As a Barcelona fan I should be happy no matter who out of the two wins it. The only reason I am leaning a little more towards Iniesta is that Xavi already won it in 2009 while for Iniesta it would be the first time. However my gut feeling is that Xavi will win it again. There are two reasons for this. One is that it's the matches in the latter stages that matter more to the voters and Xavi standing out both in the semi final and final really goes in favor of him. Secondly the admiration Xavi commands in the football world is a little more than what Iniesta commands. It might have been very nice if the award could have been shared between the two but for that to happen they must get the exact same number of votes which is unlikely.

Best Forward
Lionel Messi - unquestionable

Best Player
Lionel Messi - almost unquestionable

Goalkeeper- I agree that its probably between Neuer and VDS, despite Valdes making only one blunder in the entire campaign (from what I remember- Van Persie's goal). Not sure whether they'll go with honouring VDS's career or Neuer's youthful talent.

Defender- It must be Dani Alves. Not only has he been the best defender all year, but he's been one of the best players in the world. Vidic gets a look in but noone else comes close imo.

Midfielder- Very close, but while Iniesta was better in La Liga and probably had the better year overall, Xavi was the big game player for me this year. Absolutely superb and maybe that will get him there. Iniesta was also great in the big games too, so its neck and neck. Don't really care who gets it.

Forward- Messi

Player- Messi

kizz, wonderful reply. I agree completely. VDS has a good chance because there is a precedent for honoring legends - Maldini in 2007. As for D.Alves I hope he wins it and think he deserves it but unfortunately he happens to be one of those players who get easily overlooked. Let's hope for the best.

xcx, we will win at least three of the five awards, maybe four, but it won't be the five out of five clean sweep that Inter Milan had last season.

It is a shame that Valdes has never won the UEFA best GK award. This year, the team played so well that he was untested in most of the games, so hi might not deserve it.

But come on, in 08/09 and 05/06 he was by far the best GK in the CL with impressive performances in the semifinals and finals. And Chech and VDS won it. A Chech that was knocked out by Barça at quarterfinals and a VDS who had some nice saves, but could do more in both barça goals, especially eto'o's, in the final.

Pathetic.

Keeper will either be VDS or Neuer

Defender is where I will disagree with you guys, Alves may be a beast for us but Vidic is almost universally recognised as the best CB there is right now...and honestly without him United will not reach the final of the UCL, so personally he has my vote

Midfielder, as mentioned, both Xavi and Iniesta deserves it, but we can only choose 1, either is fine =)

Forward - no doubt its messi

Best Player - Again messi, tho Xavi/iniesta might have a shout

If Vidić is best CB on the world then CB standard these days is very low...

Abidal deserves a shout for best defender . Everyone noticed his outstanding performances this season. He contributed as a Left back and CB when the team was almost in crisis defensively. He even scored a crucial goal in basque country to send barca through to the next round in copa del rey.

Alves still probably deserves it more, given how much he contributed to the team offensively and defensively. But Abidal deserves a shout.

lmg, Uefa Club awards are only about the UCL. I think Abidal missing a few matches goes against him even though he played very well in the rest.

Gk - Neur

Df - Vidic/Pique

Midfield - Xavi/Iniesta or maybe Ozil because they feel sorry for RM

Forward - Messi

JD - in that case it probably won't go to Abidal then. Unless they want to show a "goodwill" gesture towards him. Though nothing could match up to what Puyol did for him.

DrogbasMother - LOL at the ozil part. UEFA doesn't feel sorry for anyone, especially Real madrid who accused them of corruption and being scandalous. Ozil was great this year, I distinctly remember a cross he put in during the 2nd half of the copa del rey final. It was surreal to say the least, and that's when I realized what a good player he is. But we both know he won't win it.

Regarding Pique, I don't know if he deserves to win best defender, as he had a very sluggish start to the season. But he really came into his own during crunch time, and for that I applaud him.
Also, remember that Puyol was injured for a large part of the season and Pique had to lead the defense, and play alongside Busquets and Mascherano, who are midfielders.
So overall Pique did a really good job of securing the defense in an offensively oriented team while maintaning his role of being the guy who brings the ball forward. Who knows...maybe he'll win it.