Magic Messi ends Arsenal resistance
Arsenal are all but out of the Champions League after they were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona at the Emirates in the opening leg of their last-16 clash last night.
After 71 minutes of stubborn resistance Arsene Wenger's side were finally breached by Lionel Messi, the little magician neatly finishing off a brutally incisive Barca breakaway before effectively sealing the tie from the penalty spot with six minutes to go.
In the evening's other tie goals from Paulo Dybala and Stefano Sturaro helped Juventus salvage a 2-2 draw after Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben had given Bayern Munich the lead in Turin.
And tonight Manchester City travel to Ukraine to play Dynamo Kyiv while PSV Eindhoven take on Atletico Madrid.
Michael O’Neill rewarded with new deal
Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has secured a new deal with the IFA worth €2.5 million making him the highest paid manager in their history.
Gordon D’Arcy column
In his column today Gordon D'Arcy looks ahead to Ireland's daunting Six Nations trip to Twickenham on Saturday, and he suggests it is vital Joe Schmidt's side pile the pressure on England's 10-12 axis of George Ford and Owen Farrell.
He writes: “Ireland, ideally with England fielding Farrell at 12, but regardless, must put that 10-12 channel in a vice and squeeze until it yields errors that are converted into points by Jonny Sexton.
“That means targeting, suffocating, call it whatever you like, but just get to George Ford (exploit his brittle defence). It also means making Farrell carry and punish him when he does.”
He goes on to say: “Ford and/or Farrell will seek to get ball to the wider channel but whoever the distributor is, the Irish defence must force him to turn back inside.
“And then he must be met by havoc, by bloody-minded tackling. That’s how we have always won at Twickenham - seemingly playing like men possessed yet retaining enough sanity to execute the scoring chances that come our way.”
Kilkenny’s league dominance
Elsewhere in his column today Sean Moran looks at the unpredictable nature of the hurling league, a competition which seems to have one constant - Kilkenny dominance.
He writes: “The ability to regenerate while losing outstanding players is an extraordinary one in a county with a small population.
“A significant factor in this process of renewal is that there is no down time for Kilkenny teams. Poor performances are never allowed to become a trend despite it being perfectly plausible that a team winning so much during the summer might want to go down the gears during a league campaign.”
McGregor looking for new opponent
Meanwhile Conor McGregor will take on Nate Diaz at welterweight in his UFC196 bout after Rafael dos Anjos pulled out with a broken foot.
What to watch out for:
Football
Manchester City travel to play Dynamo Kyiv (RTE 2, BT Sport Europe, 7.45pm ko) and PSV take on Atletico Madrid (Setanta, Bt Sport 2, 7.45pm ko)
