Despite the promise of a meet-up with the Red Devils of Belgium, it turned out to be more of a gathering with the Red Dragons, for the first half at least.

The atmosphere in Brussels is funereal. The Christmas lights are up but the pretty Christmas market stalls are all shut tight. The streets are almost empty and even the police sirens of the past week are silent.

Real Madrid recorded their sixth victory over Ajax in the last three seasons with an impressive display to win 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

IT had been a sharp learning curve for Mick McCarthy in his first campaign as Irish manager.