History tells us that Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 advantage ahead of tonight’s Champions League last-16 second leg at Anfield makes them warm favourites to progress.

His time in Kilgarvan allows Laurie Shaw put a unique spin on events in the UK, writes Don O’Mahony

Seamus Coleman has been in football long enough that very little surprises him any more

Jurgen Klopp insisted on Christmas Eve that he is not a man to invite himself to a party without having something worth celebrating.

Liam Brady is "looking forward to a good row with the lads", after it was confirmed that the famous RTÉ football panel will be back in the harness next week — on Premier Sports.

Tiger Roll remains on course to bid for a historic third successive win in the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree despite a recent setback.

Everton midfielder Fabian Delph has stressed the need for the Toffees to build momentum as they prepare to host Tottenham on Sunday.

Tottenham, who travel to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, began the job of saving their season with an encouraging 5-0 Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade that answered Mauricio Pochettino’s prayers and provided genuine hope of a revival.

With only 10 weeks remaining in the year, Liverpool go to Old Trafford tomorrow knowing they have never had a better opportunity to finally complete Operation 20:19.

Social justice campaigner and academic Phil Scraton speaks to Donal O’Keeffe about Hillsborough,and why he thinks the Leaving Cert are unfair.

It’s fair to say that Arsenal have under promised and over delivered in the transfer window

Simon Lewis Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler may not have had the outcomes they wanted

The offenders are described as between 12 and 15, with one wearing a dark bubble coat and one riding a bike.

Things we learned from Saturday's Champions League final.

He stands one game from a Champions League winners’ medal in Madrid this evening but the Brazilian midfielder Fabinho also takes to the field against Tottenham as exhibit A for the argument that there may be no better man manager in the modern game than Jurgen Klopp.

Lost, amid the sublime composure of £75 million Virgil van Dijk, the fan-pleasing marauding runs of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson and the promise of Joe Gomez, stands Joel Matip, the forgotten centre-half who may have as big a say in tomorrow’s Champions League Final as any Liverpool star.

Oh what a night.

Think about the greatest atmospheres and greatest occasions you have ever seen or experienced at Anfield since the day Bill Shankly walked into the famous old ground 60 years ago and vowed to turn it into a bastion of invincibility.

In a title race which has been billed as the heavy metal football of Liverpool against the melodious harmonies of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s side proved they can crank up the amps when they really need to - and the Etihad maestros must surely now be favourites to be crowned champions.

The willingness to be responsible for success but not for failure is evident in much of business and politics, so we should not be surprised when it appears in football.

Liverpool and Manchester City are going head-to-head for the Premier League title.

All eyes might be on Liverpool and Manchester because of the two horse nature of the Premier League title race but the also-rans from London could yet prove pivotal to the outcome.

Tiger Roll, trained by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Davy Russell, has won the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree for the second year in a row.

Ross O’Sullivan is looking forward to running Call It Magic at Aintree again after the horse appeared to relish the unique fences in the Becher Chase.

Jon Walters has announced his retirement this afternoon.

Sheila Lavery is planning to run Lady Kaya in the 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown next month ahead of a possible tilt at a fillies’ Classic.

It wasn’t as exhilarating as many of this season’s remarkable last 16 ties and it certainly didn’t have the quality of football that’s been on show over the last fortnight; but Liverpool’s wonderful victory in Munich, inspired by two-goal Sadio Mane, has nevertheless put down a marker that is hugely significant.

As acts of vindication go, Jordan Pickford’s game-saving block to deny Mohamed Salah as the prolific Liverpool forward looked poised to open the scoring in the first half of a tense Merseyside derby was up there with the best of the Premier League this season.

Since mind games aren’t what they used to be, let’s give thanks for the ingredient that can make this title race great: Liverpool’s ‘12th Man’, writes Larry Ryan

The halfway point of the Premier League campaign dovetails nicely with Christmas so the time has come to provide a little festive cheer by handing out some imaginary mid-season awards, writes Darren Norris

What’s bugging Mo Salah? asks Liam Mackey.

So little about this Manchester United season has been extreme. This is a team with rounded edges, who send watching supporters and journalists into an slumber.

Last season's Randox Health Grand National hero Tiger Roll is set to lead a formidable team into battle for Gordon Elliott as the trainer eyes a third victory in the Aintree showpiece next spring.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has accepted his FA misconduct charge for running on the pitch after conceding it was a mistake.

Thirty years after being ridiculed by his Tottenham clubmates while playing for Ireland, Tony Galvin believes the superiority complex remains alive and well amongst Europe’s elite.

Daniel Storey shares his Merseyside derby questions

Luckily for Manchester City, the bloated Champions League format means that opening group games can hardly be regarded as critically important, never mind ‘must win’, but even if the competition couldn’t ever hope to hit the ground running the way the World Cup did in Russia, this week’s action did see some of football’s global superstars exhibiting varying degrees of luminosity — from dull to blinding — in their attempts to twist again like they did last summer.

The greatest moment in the history of the Premier League? Has to be Sergio Aguero’s heart-stopping,

Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler is convinced that Mo Salah’s annus mirabilis in his debut season at Anfield was no one-off.

Here’s four major talking points ahead of tonight’s Champions League semi-final clash.

For all true red-bloods, the ghosts of Istanbul are alive and well and all around these days, as Liverpool prepare to take on Roma with a Champions League final place at stake.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. So it would appear that swathes of empty seats and the prospect of the financial pain of a desolate prawn circle, after the installation of more Club Level seats this summer, has finally forced a response to the interminable outcry for change at the Arsenal, signalling the end of a glorious era.

Paul Nicholls believes Vicente has a “massive chance” of becoming the first horse in over a century to win three consecutive renewals of the Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr today.

Liverpool's run to the semi-finals of the Champions League could bring an unexpected bonus for some of the club's academy players.