The Champions League returned last night, and last year's losing finalists Liverpool began their campaign with a 3-2 win over a disappointing Paris Saint-Germain side at Anfield. The hosts had seemingly conspired to throw away three points and a 2-0 lead when Kylian Mbappe equalised in the 83rd minute. However, the prodigious French forward turned from hero to zero as he gave the ball away in injury-time, allowing substitute Roberto Firmino to give his side a winning start with a deflected strike past Alphonse Areola. In the night's other Group C fixture, Napoli were held to a goalless draw away to Red Star Belgrade. Meanwhile earlier Tottenham were rocked in the San Siro, as Internazionale came from behind at the death to take all three points in their first Champions League appearance since 2011-12. Christian Eriksen's strike looked to have steered Spurs towards a sorely needed win, but a stunning late volley from Mauro Icardi and a stoppage-time header from Matias Vecino stunned the visitors and sent the Giuseppe Meazza into raptures. Elsewhere in Group B, a Lionel Messi hat-trick helped Barcelona to a 4-0 win over PSV at the Nou Camp. Tonight Manchester United start their campaign against Young Boys, with Jose Mourinho asking his side to adapt like Roger Federer when they run onto the artificial pitch in Bern. Defending champions Real Madrid face Roma at the Bernabeu while Man City play Lyon.
Yesterday saw the release of a new report by the ERSI into the lives of senior inter-county players, with the research highlighting - and confirming - the gruelling pressure and time constraints they are put under. For example, the report reveals players are spending up to 31 hours a week on their team involvement - with 40 per cent of those who contributed to the report saying that between club and county commitments they had no time off in 2016. As a solution, president John Horan has said the GAA should take a lead out of the IRFU's book: "Is it time for us as an organisation to take on board a character similar to David Nucifora in rugby where we have an actual player welfare officer who ties in with our players who dictates what is appropriate or not appropriate for our players to engage in?" Meanwhile in his column this morning Seán Moran has suggested the report is a milestone for the GAA: "If measures cannot be taken to alleviate the pressures - on career, family and social life - Gaelic games are headed in one direction: professionalism."
Elsewhere Malachy Clerkin has looked at the crisis which continues to engulf Mayo women's football, after the county LGFA released a statement yesterday endorsing the management of Peter Leahy. This came in response to another statement released by the 12 senior inter-county players and two backroom staff who walked off the panel in July over concerns about the management of the team. He writes: "Saying there are issues around player welfare is one thing. Calling life under Peter Leahy "not a safe environment" and "unhealthy" moves everything on to a different level altogether. The Mayo LGFA was right to call that sort of language outrageous in Tuesday's statement. It's just so loaded when used in the context of a male authority figure in a female dressing room."
Ireland prop Cian Healy enjoyed an impressive renaissance during the all-conquering 2017-18 season, and the 30-year-old is embracing his second coming: "Body-wise I'm feeling very good now. I'm not going to say I'm 19 years old - I'm pretty good." Healy is the elder statesmen in a very competitive Irish frontrow, and could be seen as a figurehead for the change in Irish rugby: "The Tuesday nights in Coppers are long gone. . ."
And today sees the third instalment of Eamon Donoghue's 'Underdogs' Diary - with the programme's hopefuls sent to an army camp at the Curragh: "Nevertheless the sergeant was letting nothing go: "Why did you think you can go off and do your own thing. Are you going to go off and do your own thing on the pitch?" And so the team lost 10 credits for each player who had done likewise."
