Lionel Messi has beaten Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo to UEFA's Best Player in Europe award for 2014-15.

The Argentina forward scored 58 goals in 57 games for the Spanish champions in all competitions last season as part of a frontline trio with Suarez and Neymar which netted a Spanish record of 122 goals.

Messi began the current campaign with two goals in the UEFA Super Cup final against Sevilla and another strike in the Spanish Supercopa defeat to Athletic Bilbao.

However, he finished second to Ronaldo for the second year in a row at the 2014 Ballon d'Or in January.

Messi was handed the UEFA award after the Champions League group stage draw earlier today.