Zenit St Petersburg boss Roberto Mancini will see a “much different” Scott Sinclair when their paths meet again tonight, according to the Celtic winger.

Leicester are on the hunt for a new boss having sacked Craig Shakespeare yesterday.

An understrength Arsenal side survived a late fightback from BATE Borisov to secure a 4-2 victory in Belarus.

Serbia have recalled Torino attacker Adem Ljajic to their squad for the upcoming World Cup qualification double-header against Moldova and Ireland.

Daryl Horgan insists Dundalk can continue to go from strength to strength next season even if some of the club’s leading lights depart.

One defeat doesn’t define Dundalk’s remarkable season even if, with so much at stake, last night’s 2-1 loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv is bound to leave Stephen Kenny and his players with an acute sense of deflation at the end of their European dream.

Stephen Kenny is determined to justify his selection as the Philips Sports Manager of the Year by guiding Dundalk into the last 32 of the Europa League tonight.

While I wouldn’t imagine that having to engage with the dreaded meeja features high on any football manager’s list of ‘favourite things to do’, victory must make the task a lot more tolerable.

Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny insists his side remain in a “good position” to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Europa League despite being left cursing their luck for the second time in a fortnight after losing out to Zenit St Petersburg in a snow-covered Petrovsky Stadium last night.

Dundalk’s trip to Russia received a welcome boost yesterday with Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle included in Martin O’Neill’s provisional 35-man squad for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Austria.

Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny admits he will have to give serious consideration to how best to manage the balance of work, rest, and play for his players in the period covering their final two Europa League Group D games.

From size of stadia to size of budgets, from the number of internationals in their respective ranks to previous achievements in elite European competition — by whatever measurement you chose to compare and contrast Dundalk and Zenit St Petersburg, the two clubs seemed separated by a gulf of almost cosmic proportions going into their Europa League game in Tallaght on Thursday night.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

It probably says everything about what Dundalk are achieving this season that the overriding feeling at the end of this defeat to Zenit was one of acute disappointment.

After Dundalk had taken a giant step towards a third successive league title by beating Longford Town 3-0 on Monday night, Stephen Kenny surveyed a dressing room which resembled a field hospital more than a party zone, with players stretched out on benches nursing injuries or simply laid low by sheer fatigue, as a fourth game in 10 days took its toll.

As Stephen Kenny was delivering his post-match team talk in the dressing rooms of Oriel Park on Tuesday night, he turned and asked “Where’s Daryl?”.

Barely an hour after his team created yet more Irish football history by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 in Group D of the Europa League in Tallaght on Thursday night, manager Stephen Kenny talked about how all at Dundalk remain “driven” in the quest to make this “an incredibly special season” for the club.

Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny says he has no regrets about missing out on glamour opposition as yesterday’s Europa League draw placed the Irish champions in a testing and long-haul group comprising Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg, Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Sad thing about Bournemouth is; after you’ve seen one of the greatest games of your life a few days beforehand, it’s impossible to get excited about them.

Arsenal will hope to be given either Zenit St Petersburg or Wolfsburg when the draw for the Champions League’s last 16 takes place in Nyon, Switzerland, today.

Robert Lewandowski’s incredible goalscoring form continued as the striker’s hat-trick helped Bayern Munich thrash Dinamo Zagreb 5-0.

Russia’s preparation for the 2018 World Cup is lurching from crisis to crisis...

Liverpool are keeping a close eye on the Copa America as they pursue their interest in South American trio Roberto Firmino, Carlos Bacca and Salomon Rondon.

The odd eye-catching European result aside, the march of Russian football has been stopped in its tracks. Paul Little investigates the reasons.

Besiktas knocked Tottenham off top spot in Group C of the Europa League with a 1-0 win in Turkey last night in a match twice delayed by floodlight failure.

Besiktas 1 Tottenham 0

The Champions League group stage was due a knife-edge finale and it has duly arrived. Just four group winners have been decided and only one runner-up.

Real Madrid ensured they will go through to the Champions League knock-out stages as Group B winners with a 1-0 win over Basle.

Tonight is when the Champions League starts to get serious.

In case you missed it in the transfer deadline day madness, this actually happened.

Zenit St Petersburg have wrapped up the signing of midfielder Javi Garcia from Manchester City.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari believes Mexico are good enough to cause his side plenty of problems when the two Group A leaders clash in Fortaleza on Tuesday.

Betting companies love a gimmick but for a manager to get his own bingo card just a couple of months into a job must mean he is doing something different.

Borussia Dortmind 1 Zenit St Petersburg 2 (Dortmund win 5-4 on aggregate)

Zenit St Petersburg have appointed former Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas as their head coach on a two-year deal.

Last year’s beaten finalists Borussia Dortmund were just four minutes away from exiting this year’s competition before Kevin Grosskreutz’s scuffed winner in Marseille saw them qualify as group winners.

Ajax produced a superb win over Barcelona to keep alive their hopes of qualifying from Champions League Group H.