Paulo Fonseca admits his Shakhtar Donetsk side face a daunting task to contain Manchester City.

Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has rejected the Italian city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics, effectively dooming the capital’s candidacy for the second time in four years.

Ukraine’s belief it was forging closer ties with the West was shaken by Brexit, but it remains a vital ally on the frontier between democracy and autocracy writes Erik Berglof.

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 Sevilla 2

Villarreal eased into the semi-finals of the Europa League with a 4-2 second-leg victory over Sparta Prague last night.

You’ve gotta love June: it’s always been a month to savour for those sports fiends among us equally blessed and cursed with a varied palate.

Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan has targeted an historic all-Irish world title showdown with close friend Andy Lee after racking up a fifth straight knock-out in Boston on Saturday.

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu is hoping his players can become "heroes" when they take on Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League (kick-off 7.45pm).

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.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has his expressed confidence over the financial implications of hosting the 2022 Winter Games after formally declaring the three candidate cities in Lausanne on Monday.

New violence erupted in Ukraine’s capital during the night as a large crowd attacked a government building which had police stationed inside.

Ukraine’s embattled president has offered to make a top opposition leader the prime minister, but it is unclear whether the overture will mollify the radical faction of protesters who have clashed with police for much of the last week.

Enraged protesters stormed government offices in three western Ukraine cities today, forcing one governor to write a letter of resignation, as demonstrations against the pro-Russian president and his allies intensified outside the smouldering capital.

Thousands of Ukrainian protesters have blocked entrances to the government building and called for the removal of the prime minister and his cabinet, as anger at the president’s decision to ditch a deal for closer ties with the EU gripped other parts of the country and threatened his rule.

Robin van Persie struck an injury-time penalty as The Netherlands maintained their unbeaten record in World Cup qualifying with a last-gasp draw in Estonia tonight.

UEFA found themselves under the spotlight yesterday after Croatia were fined less for monkey chants at Mario Balotelli than Nicklas Bendtner was for displaying a sponsored pair of underpants.

The German Football Association were today facing a second fine for the behaviour of Germany fans at the European Championship.

At the World Cup, Germany scored 13 goals in six games and were widely hailed as a great attacking side – or rather they were a great counter-attacking side.

Euro 2012 quarter-finalists Greece have had enough of eurozone jokes as well as the ridicule and sharp criticism of their playing style.

Lars Bender spared Germany from a shock Euro 2012 exit with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Denmark, whose tournament ended last night in Lviv.

Denmark 1 Germany 2

Germany and Portugal were today fined by UEFA over the behaviour of their fans during their opening European Championship match on Saturday night.

Substitute Silvestre Varela kept alive Portugal’s hopes of qualifying from Group B with a late strike to spare the blushes of some of his more illustrious team-mates in Lviv.

Portugal coach Paulo Bento felt his side deserved their 3-2 victory over Denmark in Lviv, insisting it would have been “unjust” had his side been held to a draw.

Portugal 3 Denmark 2

Germany coach Joachim Loew felt Mario Gomez’s winning goal in the Euro 2012 victory over Portugal justified his decision to start with the Bayern Munich striker ahead of Miroslav Klose.

Germany and Portugal were last night facing UEFA fines following their Euro 2012 opener.

Lukasz’s grasp of English was mightily impressive for a guy who has lived in Gdansk all his life.

If it wasn’t for Euro 2012, Andriy Shevchenko would probably have retired by now. The forward, commonly described as Europe’s most complete since Marco van Basten, is 35 now and, although he has looked after himself like few others, the body is beginning to creak.

Skipper Philipp Lahm could be forced to lead Germany’s quest for Euro 2012 glory away from his favoured right-back position.

SUPPORTING Ireland at Euro 2012 won’t be cheap, but it will be cheaper than a trip to Ukraine would have been.

AN Irishman hit the headlines in Kiev yesterday but enough about Sean Quinn — the real story arrives today when Giovanni Trapattoni lands at Boryspil Airport just outside town.

TWO countries and eight cities will host Euro 2012.

IF Irish fans thought it was pricey getting to Tallinn, they better pray to whatever God they believe in that Ireland get a favourable draw for Euro 2012 come December.

IRELAND will learn its European Championship schedule today when the draw for the Group B fixture list takes place in Tel Aviv (10:30 am, Irish time).

The Republic of Ireland were paired with France in the rehearsals for tomorrow’s Euro 2012 draw – and UEFA president Michel Platini admitted he would love it if the same thing happened again for real.

Ukraine’s hopes of co-hosting Euro 2012 are once again in question after UEFA noted there are “important shortcomings” in the country’s preparations.

A train derailment that ignited tankers loaded with yellow phosphorous has prompted health authorities in Ukraine to check 16,000 people for symptoms of chemical poisoning.

The number of people treated for exposure to toxic smoke from a phosphorus fire in Ukraine more than tripled today, from 20 to 69, a day after a train loaded with the chemical derailed and caught fire.

Poland and Ukraine today won the race to host the European Championships in 2012 after beating off bids from Italy and Croatia-Hungary.

A bus careered off a bridge and into a river in western Ukraine today, killing seven passengers and injuring eight.