Do you remember the first time?

THERE’S an awful lot of strangeness when you reach your first Champions League final in 11 years.

Dundalk 3 Bohemians 0... Bohemians became the latest side to draw a blank as Dundalk continued their unbeaten start to the season with a third win in a row at Oriel Park last night.

There was a sense of Christmases past, present, and future coming into focus as Manchester City played Leicester City in the League Cup this week, says Liam Mackey.

Frank de Boer’s appointment as Crystal Palace manager took the number of former Barcelona players now managing in the Premier League to five, 25% of the total workforce and a ringing endorsement for the philosophy of Total Football Johan Cruyff introduced to the Catalans after making it famous in his native Netherlands.

Inevitably, the word ‘addiction’ features early in George Best: All By Himself, the documentary aired on the BBC this week.

Ajax, creators of their own legend, were largely authors of their own downfall in Stockholm last night, writes Liam Mackey.

It is one of the great ironies of football, but also a tribute to the pragmatism of Jose Mourinho, that the Europa League, a competition once much derided by Manchester United fans from their heady perch, today holds the future of their club so firmly in its grasp.

The Europa League is a Cinderella competition, usually neglected and often ignored, but tomorrow night in Stockholm, Cinderella might have a ball.

Ajax are planning to rename their stadium as the Johan Cruyff Arena.

There was a moment during the last World Cup finals when it seemed the Dutch might be about to write a new chapter in their glorious football history, writes David Shonfield

Ahead of Barcelona’s ‘mission impossible’ in Wednesday night’s Champions League last 16 second-leg tie against Paris Saint Germain, there was a consensus around the Camp Nou that any hopes of overturning the 4-0 first leg deficit rested on the shoulders of one man.

It’s as if this year, the 24-hour channels have effectively turned into around-the-clock tribute-obituary shows.

At half-time yesterday, one of my ageing colleagues, known for his punchy pessimism, summed up proceedings better than I could: “Same old shoite, then. A team full of physically weak cowards, and the only hope of a goal is if Martial makes something out of nothing.”

Blaise Matuidi’s late strike steered France to a 3-2 victory over Holland on an emotional night at the Amsterdam Arena.

The sad news on Thursday of the death of Johan Cruyff sent me back to David Winner’s Brilliant Orange, a book as unconventional and imaginative as the Dutch football culture which it investigates and celebrates.

It is not an uncommon scenario; the rugby man, with all his connections and influence, sending the football man, with his talents, away from the office disappointed.

Jordi Cruyff says he is “touched” by the messages of support and tributes to his father Johan, who lost his battle with cancer on Thursday.

“Don’t go where you’re not wanted,” reflected John Giles last night, after RTÉ confirmed his 30-year spell as a football pundit with the station would finish after the European Championships.

Jan Olsson, the Swedish defender fooled by Johan Cruyff’s brilliant dummy at the 1974 World Cup, has revealed how he and his team-mates exploded into laughter after witnessing the winger’s most famous skill.

No one likes a show-off. You either love them or hate them.

If at first you don’t succeed, bang your head against a wall until there’s blood.

Barcelona and Ajax have sent their best wishes to former star Johan Cruyff, who is suffering from lung cancer.

It would be easy to jump on the negativity bandwagon and take a pop at any one of the easy pickings in the aftermath of the drawn All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Mayo.

QPR 1 Arsenal 2: This was, in many ways, the classic Arsenal performance.

The Golden Age of Football...now when was that exactly?

After the controversy surrounding James McClean's decision, we take a look at others who stuck by their decisions - for better or worse.

Last weekend, James McClean, quite clearly and eloquently explained in an open letter to Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan why he would be not be joining his team-mates in wearing a poppy on his shirt, as is the tradition on Remembrance day.

While Real Madrid’s ‘BBC’ strikeforce of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were all on the scoresheet in Saturday’s 5-1 La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano, the man of the match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu was Blancos midfielder Toni Kroos.

Legends from soccer, GAA and rugby have come out in support of a campaign to raise funds for a memorial for a footballer who was the first Irish man to play for Manchester United.

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

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

Roberto Martinez has hailed Seamus Coleman as one of the best full-backs in the world.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a sensitive soul. As Sepp Blatter discovered last October, it is unwise to make fun about how much an actor spends on his appearance.

By strange coincidence, I stumbled across and became engrossed in a ‘Football Legends’ television show devoted to Eusebio late last Saturday, only to awake the following morning to the news the great man had passed away during the night.

Ajax have such a memorable past, as a football institution as well as serial winners, that it is easy to forget they have had their ups and downs.

“I read in the paper this team are watching this player, this player, this player. Well, they’re idiots because those players are so different, how can you look at three different players in the same position?