The one word uppermost in the minds of all Barcelona players, fans and pundits throughout this season was ‘Roma’.

There are two distinct types of difficult games to watch, depending on your preference.

Limerick's summer looks a good deal brighter after this afternoon's Munster Championship duties in Walsh Park but the real story was the manner in which Waterford's descended from gloomy into pitch black.

As the city of Liverpool celebrates a sixth Champions League triumph for Jurgen Klopp's men, lifelong Liverpool fan Seán Cox sent his heartfelt congratulations to the club.

Boatmen, islanders, Travellers and mindfulness gurus talk rituals and the reasons behind them with Rita de Brún.

So there was not to be one last comeback, another dramatic late goal to keep Tottenham in the cup, which did not have their name written on it after all.

These days, Niall Gilligan and Eamonn Corcoran find themselves in similar social circles - Gilligan is an auctioneer in his native Sixmilebridge while Corcoran is Head of Bank of Ireland for Clare.

There are newish fans who may not fully get the testing faith that is Tottenham Hotspur. But already they recognise the importance of fearing the worst on a daily basis. We must continue to answer the call though, says Enda McEvoy. Audere Est Facere.

Arsenal supporters were warned to be careful what they wished for when they hounded Arsene Wenger out of the club a year ago.

Seamus Coleman says he regrets that Ireland weren’t able to put on “a show” for the fans at the Aviva last night.

A bore fest rather than a score fest, Ireland once again made heavy weather of seeing off Gibraltar.

Discipline is a big buzz word you hear bandied about in most sporting codes.

The flip flops were a necessity, they also told the tale of a niggly night in Copenhagen.

After doing the heavy lifting in Copenhagen on Friday, Ireland should be relishing a comparatively easy shift in Dublin tonight.

Cory Quinn (3), Paul Devlin and Barry O’Hagan all landed points late in the half to send Down into round 2 and leave the home support relieved at the final whistle.

Republic of Ireland midfielders James McClean and Jeff Hendrick were delighted to emerge from Denmark with a share of the spoils.

The last time Shane Duffy scored against Denmark with a header…well, do we really need to go through all that again?

Ireland’s latest trip to Copenhagen marked your correspondent’s fifth visit to the engaging Danish capital which, a couple of thunderstorms aside, presented a much sunnier, summery face than I experienced on my first trip there.

Cork attacker Robbie O’Flynn has sounded a word of warning ahead of this weekend’s Munster SHC clash with Waterford.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off this evening and there’s still a lot of work to be done to stop women being sidelined. The winning team will get €3.5m, compared with €33.5m earned by the French winners of the 2018 men’s tournament, writes Robert Hume.