Lionel Messi named UEFA Best Player in Europe ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez

Winner: Messi was crowned the best player in Europe during the awards in Monaco

Lionel Messi has been named the Best Player in Europe for the 2014/15 season.
Messi pipped Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez to the award, which was presented during the draw for the Champions League group stages on Thursday.
A total of 54 journalists were kitted out with voting pads during the ceremony in Monaco, before getting the chance to vote for the winner while the trio of nominees stood on stage.
The win will be bitter sweet for Messi, after missing out on the 2014 Ballon d'Or gong to Ronaldo - with a blistering start to 2015 proving to be the difference.
Messi has won every competition, barring the Spanish Cup Cup, while representing Barcelona this calendar year.
In pictures - Champions League draw in Monaco:

 

Most notably, Messi inspired the Catalan giants to the Champions League win, beating the likes of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Juventus along the way.
The Argentinian scored 58 goals in all competitions during the campaign - keeping his goal tally at over a goal a game.

He also supplemented that statistic with 28 assists, as well as sterling displays against some of the world's best defenders.
Suarez featured alongside Messi in the much-feared Champions League-winning front three of Barcelona, along with Brazilian sensation Neymar.

 

Close call: Suarez was one of the men tipped to pip Messi to the gong

After making the mega-money move from Liverpool, he fit straight into boss Luis Enrique's plans at the Nou Camp, proving to be the clinical edge in a captivating front line.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, will be disappointed at his trophy haul with Real Madrid in 2015 after failing to inspire Los Blancos to any success on the pitch.
Despite that, Ronaldo still managed to rack up a total of 61 goals - his largest seasonal total in all competitions to date.