That’s better than Turin,” said the buddy on WhatsApp.

It’s the ultimate battle of philosophies in Manchester tomorrow. A classic clash of styles as the family pulling every stroke to pump as much money as possible into their club faces the family working every trick in the book to take it out.

Jose Mourinho has suddenly found the secret formula to beating team full of high quality, big-impact stars who play at a higher level than his own side, just in time for a similar test against Manchester City in the Premier League.

So, this lovely image of Bob Marley adorning Bohemians’ new away strip: Does it mean that, next season, when it’s nil-nil late on and the opposition score, we will be entitled to refer to the goal as “breaking the dreadlock”?

Serie A side Juventus were criticised during the week for their public support of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo amid rape allegations that have emerged.

The past week or so has been so tricky for some of Europe’s elite clubs that they might be looking forward to the Champions League as a welcome diversion, writes David Shonfield

Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings over Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card against Valencia in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The exit door at Emirates Stadium had barely shut behind Arsene Wenger when a number of his backroom staff followed him out the door yesterday, as the club prepare for life beyond the Frenchman.

It has all been about records this season in European football: records broken and records that remained tantalisingly out of reach.

In football, as in the world about us, the whistle-blower is never too far from the headlines.

 

Michael Oliver has received a show of support from Italian football fans after the dramatics of Wednesday night led to some fans attack him and his wife on social media.

How big a loss would this be for Real?

Zinedine Zidane believes Cristiano Ronaldo will leave a lasting legacy at Real Madrid like Alfredo Di Stefano has.

Manchester City haven’t become a bad team on the back of one bad night at the office, writes Liam Mackey

They include a few overhead kicks to match even Ronaldo's superhuman effort.

And so the Old Lady prevailed, as the old masters of European football finally ended Tottenham’s swashbuckling adventure in the Champions League.

Mauricio Pochettino believes his “brave” Tottenham side are ready to take another major step in Europe.

Tottenham recovered from an early setback to claim an impressive 2-2 draw against Juventus.

Former Arsenal Academy chief Liam Brady says Arsenal passed up on the opportunity to sign Harry Kane because he “was a bit chubby”.

The boy from the small Argentinian town of Murphy has taken a long and winding road via Barcelona, Southampton, and Tottenham, to see for the first time his family’s ancestral home in Piedmont, Italy, but Mauricio Pochettino feels at home in Turin — and does not think Spurs should feel out of place at the Allianz Stadium where they face Juventus tonight.

A last-gasp Alberto Paloschi header saw Serie A strugglers SPAL force a 1-1 draw with Inter.

Gennaro Gattuso's 10-man Milan, already languishing down in seventh, were thrashed 3-0 at lowly Hellas Verona.

Manchester United 3 FC Basel 0: Manchester United’s long-awaited return to the Champions League proved a rather routine affair as they comfortably overcame Basel 3-0 at Old Trafford but an injury to Paul Pogba, on the day he was made captain, leaves them waiting nervously to see how long the talismanic midfielder will be out.

“To succeed you have to become nastier” Mark Hughes told Tore Andre Flo, soon after the young Norwegian arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 1997.

Dani Alves has apologised for any hurt he might have caused Manchester City and their head coach Pep Guardiola by signing for Paris St Germain.

Juventus have signed Brazil winger Douglas Costa on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich.

Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci has denied being involved in a half-time bust-up with teammates during the Champions League final defeat against Real Madrid.

Real Madrid will have a really difficult job trying to break Juve down, writes Liam Brady.

Zinedine Zidane has refused to offer any clues as to whether Gareth Bale will start a Champions League final in his home city.

European football writers Paul Little, Dermot Corrigan and Emanuele Giulianelli preview the Champions League final.

Both come from old port cities beside the Mediterranean, but the two men arrived at the top of their profession by completely different routes, writes David Shonfield.

I didn’t like the fact that we were such favourites – it made me nervous. With good reason it turned out. Conte’s cup record is also rather poor which worried me.

Should next Saturday’s Champions League final resolve itself into a head to head contest between Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon, the outcome might not only decide the game but also the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 40th goal of the season as Real Madrid claimed a first LaLiga title since 2012.

Juventus secured their place in the Champions League final after coasting to a 2-1 win over Monaco in Turin last night.

Gonzalo Higuain's stoppage-time equaliser saw Serie A leaders Juventus salvage a 1-1 draw against 10-man Torino in the Turin derby.

Eamon Dunphy was right. And then he was wrong. And then he was right again. It can be hard to keep up with the Dunph, sometimes, writes Liam Mackey.

No knee slides, no leaping and punching the air, no elaborately choreographed hand-shake routines. Just a little fist bump here, a fleeting palm slap there or maybe a passing pat on the back.