Can Euro showpiece spur national side?

The Champions League final traditionally ends the football season across Europe, but it doesn’t feel that way this year.

Attention now switches from club to country, for Ireland’s principal rivals in Group C, above all.

The Swedish league is less than halfway through a season that finishes in November although most of the Swedish squad play for foreign clubs and thus are due a break. Now they have to refocus for next week’s friendly against Macedonia followed by two crucial games when they hope to make up ground on Germany.