GREETINGS from a delightfully sunny Madrid, where your correspondent is preparing to relish the Galacticos trying to overturn a four-goal deficit against some third division minnows in the Cup.

THE French president left the Taoiseach in no doubt about what was important when he paid him a pre-match visit at the Elysee Palace.

England coach Brian Ashton has already decided his starting line-up for the opening Rugby World Cup pool match against the USA in Lens on September 8 – but he will not tell the players until Tuesday.

PARIS Saint-Germain will be without four regulars for the UEFA Cup clash against Derry City at The Brandywell tonight.

RANGERS manager Paul Le Guen will wait until later in the week before making a decision on his trio of trialists.

Rangers manager Paul Le Guen has turned down the opportunity to sign France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

France 26 Australia 16

Australia head coach Eddie Jones will include a wide cross-section of talent in the Wallabies squad for next month’s four-Test European spring tour.

MACIEJ Zurawski’s protracted transfer to Celtic appears to at last be drawing to a conclusion after the Pole flew into Glasgow yesterday.

IT’S claimed there were 10,000 Irish people among the 28,803 attendance in the Adelaide Oval for the World Cup clash of Ireland and Argentina on October 26 last year.

ARSENAL'S bid to sign Tunisian right back Hatem Trabelsi from Ajax is on the brink of collapse as manager Arsene Wenger continues to insist Patrick Vieira will not be leaving the Gunners for Real Madrid.

Arsenal’s bid to sign Tunisian right back Hatem Trabelsi from Ajax is on the brink of collapse – as manager Arsene Wenger continues to insist Patrick Vieira will not be leaving the Gunners.

ARSENE WENGER says that Real Madrid have assured him they have not approached Patrick Vieira.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has given Didier Drogba his seal of approval, claiming the forward would add another dimension to the Stamford Bridge attack.

EIDUR Gudjohnsen has told Arjen Robben to expect a titanic struggle with Damien Duff for Chelsea’s left-wing berth.

Newcastle must try again for only their third away Premiership win this season at Liverpool on Saturday but it will bring them only a UEFA Cup reprise at best after their Champions League chance disappeared against Southampton.

Newcastle manager Bobby Robson will hold a fitness check ahead of Sunday’s vital Barclaycard Premiership clash with Chelsea.

Newcastle will play Marseille in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup after the French side completed a 2-0 aggregate win over Inter Milan tonight.

Defiant Gerard Houllier insisted that misfiring striker Michael Owen will not be dropped from the Liverpool team and is likely to take the next penalty even after his second spot-kick miss in a row in the 2-0 defeat at Southampton.

DISGRACED former Marseilles chairman Bernard Tapie has dismissed allegations made by Tony Cascarino that he and his team-mates were injected with an unknown substance while he was a player with the French side.

DAVID Beckham yesterday spoke lovingly of his wife’s pride when he received an OBE from the Queen.

DAVID and Victoria Beckham yesterday denied reports which claimed their marriage was in trouble and insisted they were “extremely happy together”.

David and Victoria Beckham today denied reports which claimed their marriage was in trouble and insisted that they were “extremely happy together”.

Sparta Prague 0 Chelsea 1

Sparta Prague 0 Chelsea 1

France have beaten England 17-16 in Marseilles tonight, ending England's run of 14 victories in a row.

Clive Woodward believes that Saturday’s showdown with France at the 60,000-capacity Stade Velodrome is perfect World Cup preparation.

FRANCE will try to make up for the absence of injured Fabien Galthie with a Lansdowne Road double act — Fabien Pelous taking over as captain and Dimitri Yachvili as playmaker for Saturday’s Six Nations game against Ireland.

RUMOURS linking Manchester City boss Kevin Keegan with a £7 million move for Robbie Fowler continue to rumble on, although it appears the Leeds striker’s wages may prove an immovable stumbling block.

Kevin Keegan is refusing to get sucked into the common belief that Liverpool are a spent force – but he believes his Manchester City side are good enough to dump the Anfield outfit out of the FA Cup on Sunday.