La Liga and Bundesliga kick off

UEFA announced the names of the nominees shortlisted for the 2018/19 UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year Awards. The awards will be presented at the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony, which will take place in Monaco on Thursday 29 August.

Lionel MESSI (Argentina – FC Barcelona)
Cristiano RONALDO (Portugal – Juventus)
Virgil VAN DIJK (Netherlands – Liverpool FC)

That is the final short list from which the season’s best male footballer in Europe will emerge.

Leonel Messi scored 51 goals and finished top scorer with Barcelona who grabbed the la Liga title in the process.

Cristiano Ronaldo proved that he can shine in multiple top-tier leagues as he finished with the Serie A trophy and league player of the year award plus top scorer after his first season with Juventus. The Portuguese superstar also showed that he’s a leader at the national team level as well, winning the inaugural UEFA Nations League trophy for his country.

The lone defender, Liverpool’s vice captain Vigil Van Dijk guided the team to the champions league title while the center back also finished as the PFA and Premier League player of the year.

The 2019/2020 La liga season kicks off later tonight as champions fc Barcelona take center stage against Athletic Bilbao in their opener, at Bilbao’s cathedral.

For the tenth season in a row Barcelona has not lost in their opening match as they strengthen their upfront with the arrival of Antoine Griezmann.

Rivals Real Madrid visit Celta vigo on saturday, while new boys Mallorca RCD take on Eibar.

Valencia vs Real Sociedad.

Leganes up against Osasuna while Athletico Madrid hosts Getafe CF.

In the same light the season kicksoff tonight in the German topflight.

Champions Bayern will receive Hertha Berlin at the Alliance Arena while on Saturday, Dortmund plays host to Augsburg.

Moenchengladbach vs Schalke will also animate the weekend.

In tennis Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters with a 6-3 6-4 win over Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Thursday.

The world number one will face Frenchman Lucas Pouille later today.

Andy Murray continued his rehab from hip surgery with success on the doubles court on Thursday

He and partner Feliciano Lopez of Spain dispatched Americans Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock, 2-6 6-3 10-7, to reach the quarterfinals.

Murray was knocked out of the singles tournament earlier in the week by Frenchman Richard Gasquet. It was his first time competing alone since his operation.

Roger Federer endured one of the most surprising losses of his career on Thursday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, falling to rising Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev in just 62 minutes, 6-2 6-1. The 21 year old Russian is ranked 70th and makes his first quarter finals.