Stephen Quinn is a ‘definite option’ to replace James McCarthy or Glenn Whelan in Ireland’s midfield tonight, writes Liam Brady.

Juventus 1 Manchester City 0: Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal as Juventus leapfrogged Manchester City in Champions League Group D with a 1-0 win in Turin.

Real Madrid 1 Juventus 1 (Agg 2-3): Alvaro Morata was again the hero as a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in last night’s Champions League semi-final second leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu sent Juventus through to the competition’s final.

The Old Lady of Italian football — not to mention one or two of its old men — is long overdue a European trophy; and after Carlos Tevez inspired Juventus to a 2-1 Champions League semi-final first leg victory over Real Madrid there is a growing feeling that this could finally be their year.

Monaco 0 Juventus 0: Juventus moved into the last four of the Champions League for the first time in 12 years after playing out a goalless draw with Monaco in the second leg of their quarter-final tie.

Borussia Dortmund 0 Juventus 3 (Juventus win 5-1 on aggregate): Carlos Tevez scored two and set up another as Juventus cruised into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Italy’s early elimination from the World Cup has strengthened the belief that football in the country desperately needs a new direction.

Italy 0 Uruguay 1

Italy 0 Costa Rica 1

Roy Hodgson thinks Luis Suarez has a lot to prove before he can be considered a truly world class player.

Juventus 0 Bayern Munich 2 (Bayern win 4-0 on aggregate)

Antonio Conte made an uncharacteristic mess of his team selection against Bayern Munich last week and the Juventus coach cannot afford to get it wrong again as his side chase a two-goal deficit tonight.

Bayern Munich 2 Juventus 0

Juventus 2 Celtic 0

Chelsea 2 Juventus 2

Giovanni Trapattoni has recalled Kevin Doyle tonight as Republic of Ireland attempt to salvage some pride from their European Championship campaign and knock Italy out of the tournament.

Buoyed by a strong showing against the world champions there’s a new mood of optimism in the Italian camp, boosted by the post-match words of their president Giorgio Napolitano who compared the spirit of the nation to the spirit of the team.

Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi revealed he will play in defence against Spain in tomorrow’s Group C opener.

Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi has revealed he will play in defence against Spain in Sunday's Euro 2012 Group C opener.

Two of Ireland’s Euro 2012 group rivals have been hit by late injuries, with Croatian striker Ivica Olic out of the tournament with a ruptured thigh muscle.

FULHAM’S extraordinary season took another twist as they secured their place in the semi-finals of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg in Germany.

Wolfsburg 0 Fulham 1 (Fulham win 3-1 on aggregate)

FULHAM, the conquerors of Juventus in the previous round, gave themselves a healthy chance of adding Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg to their list of victims as their season clocked up game number 52.

MICHAEL OWEN scored a hat-trick as Manchester United made light of their injury woes to record a memorable win over German champions Wolfsburg last night.

Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has been replaced Tomasz Kuszczak for tonight's Champions League against German title winners Wolfsburg.

Portsmouth manager Tony Adams opted for a one-man attack for his side’s crucial UEFA Cup clash in Germany.

France and Italy walk out for their trans-Alpine clash at Zurich’s Letzigrund tonight knowing their Euro 2008 fate lies in the hands of Romania.

NEWCASTLE claimed a fine 1-0 win in Palermo to move to within touching distance of a place in the third round of the UEFA Cup.

Newcastle claimed a fine 1-0 win in Palermo to move to within touching distance of a place in the third round of the UEFA Cup.

WEST HAM’S disappointing start to the season continued as they bowed out of the UEFA Cup at the Renzo Barbera Stadium.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi and his France counterpart Raymond Domenech both named unchanged teams for Sunday evening’s World Cup final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi sprung no surprises when he named his team for the World Cup semi-final showdown against host nation Germany.

ITALIAN coach Marcello Lippi expects Daniele De Rossi to receive some harsh punishment for elbowing US forward Brian McBride in the face.

Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr threw caution to the wind and named a strong attacking line-up in a bid to gain a confidence-boosting win ahead of next month’s vital World Cup qualifier with France.