Rodri named Champions League Player of Season

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante, also known as Rodri, has been named the Player of the Season for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League, UEFA confirmed on Sunday.

"It's a dream. This moment will never happen again," Rodrigo said in a statement. "All these [City fans have] waited I don't know how many years. They deserve it, we deserve it."

Rodri, 26, scored the winning goal in the 68th minute in the Citizens' narrow win against Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

Spanish midfielder appeared in 12 Champions League matches, scoring two goals this season.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's acrobatic finish in the Group G win over Borussia Dortmund was selected as this season's best in the top-tier event of European football.

"The top ten goals of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League campaign have been selected by UEFA's Technical Observer panel, with Erling Haaland's acrobatic late winner for Manchester City against former club Dortmund impressing the most to win Goal of the Season," UEFA said.

"Two flowing Paris Saint-Germain goals took second and third spots. Kylian Mbappé's volley at home to Juventus following Neymar's improvised assist was second (one of two top-ten entries for the Frenchman against the Italian side), ahead of Lionel Messi's smart finish following intricate build-up away to Benfica," it added.

- UEFA unveils Team of Season

UEFA revealed the Champions League team of the season as a total of seven City players are included in the competition's Team of the Season.

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)

Defenders: Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Federico Dimarco (Inter)

Midfielders: John Stones (Man City), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Rodri (Manchester City)

Forwards: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)