Arsene Wenger accepts either Arsenal or Manchester United will have little option but to “deal with the consequences” of ending up in the Champions League qualifiers which can overshadow all pre-season preparations.

They were the fiercest of rivals in the early part of the last decade, but it’s been quite a while since Arsenal versus Manchester United was a title decider.

Massimiliano Allegri admits it can sometimes seem virtually impossible to combat Barcelona and their “stratospheric” all-star forward line, but the Juventus boss insists the Champions League final is no foregone conclusion.

Manchester United will further strengthen their squad and will be able to challenge for trophies on all fronts next season, the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has promised.

Manager Arsene Wenger expects to add to Arsenal’s “core” this summer, but believes if Francis Coquelin had cost £40m (€55.6m) in January rather than coming back from loan at Charlton, there would be little criticism of the squad’s depth.

Fitness and conditioning guru Mike McGurn warns Carlow’s disappointing Leinster championship opener shows no amount of gym work will compensate for a shortage of skills.

Theo Walcott insists Arsenal will have “no excuse” if they do not mount a serious title challenge next year.

Chris Smalling is refusing to celebrate Manchester United’s return to the Champions League.

Gary Neville is excited by the prospect of watching Memphis Depay play for Manchester United, but admits the winger still has much to learn if he is to become a star.

Tottenham 2 Hull 0: What a difference a year makes. This time 12 months ago Hull City were competing in their first FA Cup final at Wembley.

It certainly wasn’t the X Factor, but it was the Next Factor; a battle to prove which of these two great clubs is most likely to challenge Chelsea next season; and the bottom line is Jose Mourinho won’t be too worried.

Pooping Man Utd’s last home game of the season party was always likely to prove a stiff test, especially after ramping up the pressure upon ourselves, following Swansea’s infuriating “smash and grab” last Monday night.

QPR 2 Newcastle 1: There were times, in the not too distant past, when a big end-of-season match for Newcastle meant an FA Cup final, a Champions League qualifier, or even a title tilt.

Sunderland 0 Leicester 0: Leicester players are backing both Nigel Pearsons for manager of the year awards after the Foxes completed perhaps the greatest of all escapes. That’s one for the man we see in public, and another for the real Pearson.

Not so very long ago, some of us were looking forward to this past weekend as being the first under Prime Minister Miliband’s newly-formed government, to be capped by a cracking high-stakes match against our old London enemies.

Man United 1 Arsenal 1: If this contest was expected to provide an indication of whether Manchester United or Arsenal are more likely to sustain a Premier League title challenge next season, it categorically failed to provide it.

It is a decade since the Rossport Five went to prison for three months. As the Corrib gas pipeline prepares to carry offshore gas for the first time, Noel Baker visits the area to ask if the long-running saga is coming to an end.

The call-up will be a boost for Connell after his club, Bolton Wanderers, went into administration following their relegation from the Championship.

It is among the great sources of regret in professional football, the lost connection between players and fans.

Forty years on, they still talk about those five minutes.