Will Erling Haaland (l.) dethrone Robert Lewandowski (r.) as the UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season? - © DFL
Will Erling Haaland (l.) dethrone Robert Lewandowski (r.) as the UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season? - © DFL
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Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski nominated for UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season 2020/21

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Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski have been named alongside Kylian Mbappe on the final three-man shortlist for the UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season 2020/21 award.

Haaland scored a tournament-leading 10 goals during Borussia Dortmund's run to the Champions League quarter-finals. He also became the first player to score more than once in four consecutive Champions League outings and the quickest to reach 20 goals (14 appearances), whilst breaking Paris Saint-Germain counterpart Mbappe's record for most Champions League strikes before the age of 21. Lewandowski, meanwhile, struck five times in six games for Bayern Munich.

Haaland could become the first Dortmund player to claim one of four annual positional awards. Lewandowski is the holder in the Forward category after top scoring with 15 goals as Bayern won their sixth European Cup in 2019/20. Club-mates Manuel Neuer and Joshua Kimmich took the Goalkeeper and Defender prizes respectively.

Ex-Bundesliga players Antonio Rüdiger - a 2020/21 Champions League winner with Chelsea - and Kevin De Bruyne - a beaten finalist with Manchester City - are also in the running for this year's individual accolades.

Watch: Lewandowski and Haaland compared

The awards were introduced in 2016/17 to recognise the season's best player in each position in the Champions League. This year's winners will be named - along with the UEFA Men's Player of the Year and UEFA Women's Player of the Year - during the 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday 26 August.

A jury comprising the coaches of the 32 clubs in the 2020/21 Champions League group stage, together with 55 journalists chosen by the European Sports Media group were involved in the shortlisting process.