I deserve players' title as much as Messi, Ronaldo, says Franck Ribery
Ribery made the shortlist for the UEFA honour after a 2012/2013 campaign in which the France international helped Bayern to a historic treble of League, Cup and Champions League titles.
Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery claims he deserves to be named European Player of the Year as much as the other two contenders for Thursday's award - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ribery made the shortlist for the UEFA honour after a 2012/2013 campaign in which the France international helped Bayern to a historic treble of League, Cup and Champions League titles.
And discussing his prospects he told Monday''s edition of Kicker magazine: "I've dreamed about this title for a long time.
"Last season I played really well and won huge titles. Why shouldn't I win it? I deserve it as much as the other two.
"Already I'm very happy to be among the finalists. But when you have a season like mine you want to be rewarded by such an honour."
Asked to compare his ability with that of Messi and Ronaldo the 30-year-old added: "Each has their own qualities. What (Messi and Ronaldo) do for sure better than me is score goals. They score more often than me, but I set up more goals (than them)."