Liverpool earn double nomination at 20th Laureus World Sports Awards

Liverpool have earned a double nomination at this year’s prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards after their incredible Champions League triumph last season.

Jurgen Klopp and his players are in the running for the Team of the Year having lifted the trophy in Madrid, and Comeback of the Year for their memorable victory against Barcelona in the semi-final second leg at Anfield.

The Reds are strong contenders for both awards at the landmark 20th anniversary of the ceremony, which will recognise sporting achievement during 2019.

The Reds’ stunning 4-0 win over Barcelona is also nominated for Comeback of the Year

They face competition in the Team of the Year category from Formula One’s Mercedes, who won the constructors’ title for the sixth season running, and the US women’s football team, who were victorious in last summer’s World Cup.

Canadian basketball franchise the Toronto Raptors, who won the NBA Finals last year, are also up for the award, along with Rugby World Cup winners South Africa and FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medallists Spain.

Liverpool’s brilliant 4-0 win over Barca in May, which saw them overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit, is up against Andy Murray for Comeback of the Year, after the former British No 1 battled back from a serious hip problem and the brink of retirement to win the European Open in Antwerp.

Toronto Raptors have been nominated for Team of the Year after winning the NBA Finals

Andy Murray is also in the running after fighting back from injury to win the European Open

Also nominated are German racing driver Sophia Floersch, who fought back from a spinal fracture suffered in a serious crash to start competing again, and Australian rugby star Christian Lealiifano, who returned to action after battling leukaemia.

Elsewhere, Barcelona star Lionel Messi goes up against Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal, Lewis Hamilton, Marc Marquez and Eliud Kipchoge for the Sportsman of the Year award. 

The Argentine won his sixth Ballon d’Or last year, while Woods completed a remarkable comeback to win The Masters and Nadal lifted both the French and US Open trophies to make it 19 Grand Slam titles.

Hamilton was crowned F1 world champion for the sixth time, Marc Marquez won his fourth straight Moto GP world championship and Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours after a special attempt in Vienna.  

Lionel Messi, pictured with his sixth Ballon d’Or, is nominated for Sportsman of the Year

Tiger Woods is also up for the award after his incredible victory at The Masters last April

Rafael Nadal had another big year, winning the US Open (pictured) and the French Open

The women’s category is dominated by names from the US, with gymnastics star Simone Biles competing with three of her compatriots – sprinter Allyson Felix, footballer Megan Rapinoe and skiier Mikaela Shiffrin – for Sportswoman of the Year.

Jamaican runner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, who won the Australian and French Opens, are also on the list of nominations. 

Heavyweight boxer Andy Ruiz, who stunned the world by beating Anthony Joshua and winning four world titles, is nominated for Breakthrough of the Year, as is teenage tennis sensation Coco Gauff.

The 15-year-old made headlines with her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, but she faces competition from Japan’s rugby side, who won the hearts of a nation by reaching the World Cup quarter-finals on home soil last summer. 

Winners will be voted for by the 68 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, with the ceremony being held in Berlin on February 17. 

Gymnastics star Simone Biles, pictured in action last year, is up for Sportswoman of the Year

Andy Ruiz (right) could win Breakthrough of the Year for his stunning win over Anthony Joshua