High praise for Liverpool forward as he makes UEFA shortlist of Europe’s best players

First a hat-trick in a closed doors game and now this.

It's been a good week if you're Roberto Firmino, as the former Hoffenheim player has found himself in illustrious company on a new UEFA shortlist of the best players playing on the continent. And we don't mean beside Adam Lallana either. The Brazilian is named on a 35-man UEFA shortlist along with players such as Ronaldo and Javier Mascherano. The 23-year-old was joint-28th alongside with Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic, Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid and Barca new boy Arda Turan. And joint-28th means joint-last but sshhh. The list is based on performances from last season, but unfortunately there is no chance that the forward will win the top gong. Only three players are in with a chance of that huge honour, and of course they are they are Messi, Suarez and Ronaldo representing Real Madrid, who all got the top votes from various football journalists. The final vote will be announced on August 27th. The full list is : 4 Gianluigi Buffon 5 Neymar 6 Eden Hazard 7 Andrea Pirlo 8 Arturo Vidal 9 Carlos Tévez 10 Paul Pogba 11 Arjen Robben 12 Manuel Neuer 13 Carlos Bacca 14 Andrés Iniesta 14 Álvaro Morata 14 Thomas Müller 17 Kevin De Bruyne 18 Zlatan Ibrahimović 19 Gareth Bale 19 André-Pierre Gignac 21 Robert Lewandowski 21 Ivan Rakitić 23 Jérôme Boateng 23 Xavi Hernández 23 Jackson Martínez 23 Javier Mascherano 23 Alexis Sánchez 28 Giorgio Chiellini 28 Roberto Firmino 28 Nemanja Matić 28 Arkadiusz Milik 28 Nicolás Otamendi 28 Sergio Ramos 28 Marc-André ter Stegen 28 Arda Turan H/T Liverpool Echo