Ronaldo vs. Messi vs. Iniesta – and the winner will be?

Yes, it’s that time of year when the UEFA European Footballer of the Year award is handed out. On Thursday, either Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Andres Iniesta will be crowned as the best player on the continent over the last season. The voting will be done live at the Grimaldi Center in Monaco by journalists representing UEFA’s 53 member states and yours truly will be on stage presenting the awards ceremony.
It will be the seventh time that I will have the privilege to host UEFA’s annual awards gala and Champions League draw in Monaco. Over the last few years I have seen a lot of drama on stage and I predict a few more "oohs" and "ahs" on Thursday evening when the groups are drawn for the tournament's lucrative first stage and when the winner of the top prize is announced.
It would be fair to say that Messi is the favorite to win the award, which has replaced the old Ballon D’Or, but I think, this time around it will be Ronaldo coming out on top. In my mind, this accolade is like the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA, for example, and he was the MVP at Real Madrid – the Spanish champions – last season.