FAI chief executive John Delaney has defended sacked Ireland manager Martin O’Neill in the wake of recent criticism, describing some of his treatment by the media as “very unfair”.

Mark Hughes has revealed that Sofiane Boufal has been exiled from Southampton's first team as punishment for his involvement in a bust-up during the Premier League defeat to Chelsea.

Willian says Chelsea must play the “perfect” game to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Barcelona this evening.

What's being said online and in the papers.

Arsenal fell to a narrow defeat at Cologne tonight but will still progress into the knockout stages of the Europa League as Group H winners.

Ugly scenes marred the end of Lyon's 5-0 derby destruction of bitter rivals St Etienne as angry home fans temporarily delayed the match by invading the pitch.

Claude Puel was last night confirmed as Leicester’s new first-team manager.

The papers are dominated by speculation surrounding who could replace sacked Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare.

Martin O’Neill probably had the best quote on the size of Ireland’s play-off challenge before he even learned the identity of his team’s opponents in Zurich yesterday.

James McClean sent the Republic of Ireland into a World Cup play-off as Wales' hopes of qualification were ended by a 1-0 defeat in Cardiff.

Martin O'Neill has challenged the Republic of Ireland to give skipper Seamus Coleman a World Cup incentive as he moves closer to a comeback.

Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona beat Las Palmas 3-0 in a game played behind closed doors after the Spanish league refused Barca’s plea to postpone the game on the day of the highly-charged Catalonia referendum.

Three football supporters have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a barrier collapsed during Amiens' match against Lille.

The rumours online and in the papers.

Liverpool have announced striker Divock Origi has joined Bundesliga side Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season.

Almost all EU countries are likely to bid to host the two major regulatory agencies that have to be relocated from London, setting up a potential squabble between the 27 remaining members that have so far shown a united front on Brexit.

As we know only too well, Seamus Coleman won’t be on the pitch in the Aviva on Sunday but if his replacement Cyrus Christie and the rest of the Irish players can channel some of the spirit Captain Coleman’s men showed on a famous night in Lille last summer, Austria in the World Cup qualifiers will find themselves up against what Italy were forced to confront in the finals of the European Championships.

A year that featured the glorious high of scoring Ireland’s winner against Italy in Lille ended in frustrating fashion for Robbie Brady as the Dubliner was sent off in Norwich City’s 0-0 Championship draw at Brentford on Saturday.

While his much less celebrated work off the ball is far too honest to merit ‘a luxury player’ tag — you can understand why Martin O’Neill harbours equally honest reservations about him, writes Liam Mackey.

Southampton 0 Chelsea 2: It is after matches like this that you wonder just quite what happened to Eden Hazard last season.

Niall Quinn has challenged Ireland’s Euro 2016 heroes to build on the success of their French adventure.

It was well past midnight when Ireland’s team bus pulled out of Lille but songs and stories dominated the three-hour journey down the A1 towards the Versailles.

Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has warned that the Euro 2016 feelgood factor can easily disintegrate unless his team negotiate a daunting start to their World Cup campaign.

Mark Twain once beautifully defined an expert as “some guy from outta town”. That being so, the guys and gals whose heads are entirely off the planet must be the greatest experts of them all.

Gareth Bale feels Wales could have a psychological advantage over Euro 2016 quarter-final opponents Belgium after beating them in qualifying.

Chris Gunter says the Wales squad have no regrets over their celebrations at England’s Euro 2016 exit which were caught on video and leaked on to social media sites.

France 2 Republic of Ireland 1: We’ll always have Lille and, for just short of an hour yesterday afternoon, an Irish team that the nation had taken to its heart made us think that we might have Lyon too.

The chant echoed around the concession stands in the bowels of the Parc Olympique Lyonnais (also nicknamed Stade des Lumières) at half time.

Yet again it was the skipper with the declaration of intent.

The great day has dawned but the panel are worried. They’re worried for any number of reasons. Let us count the ways.

Daryl Murphy wouldn’t hesitate. Not for a second.

Only once has the Republic of Ireland faced the host nation in a major tournament. The opportunity to do so again was a powerful motivating tool for Martin O’Neill’s players as they prepared to face Italy in Lille.

Tears welling up in his eyes, Robbie Brady paused to reaffirm Ireland’s tendency of thriving in the face of adversity. It’s hardly surprising the trend has surged since his arrival on the scene given the personal history he’s endured in overcoming the odds.

Robbie Brady proved himself a future Irish captain in waiting, and other lessons from last night...