The Premier League title race comes down to the final day of the season but it remains in Manchester City's hands as they head to Brighton on Sunday for their final game. And they have their captain to thank. It was Vincent Kompany's 25-yard thunderbolt that eventually broke the resilience of Leicester City last night as Agent Brendan Rodgers was foiled in his plan to win the league for Liverpool five years on from Steven Gerrard's slip. Kelechi Iheanacho had a golden chance late on to level scores up and leave the title in Liverpool's hands with one game to go but his effort went wide. And so it is that Jürgen Klopp's side look set to end the season trophyless with 97 points and the semi-finals of the Champions League to show for it. However this has been a season for shock results in Europe and tonight Liverpool would add to that list if they were to overturn the 3-0 deficit suffered at the hands of Barcelona last week. Klopp knows that something very special indeed is needed but he does say that, if it is not to happen, Liverpool will have failed "in the most beautiful way".
Back home there were mixed feelings for the Ireland under-17s as they kept their European Championship hopes alive by netting a late equaliser against Czech Republic thanks to Andrew Omobamidele. However the game was marred by the extremely harsh sending off of Ireland's Festy Ebosele who reacted by kicking water bottles and throwing his jersey away as tempers ran high. Ireland now must beat Belgium on Thursday to be sure of securing a place in the knockout stages.
On to rugby and we're on the final countdown to the Champions Cup final now. John O'Sullivan has all the major talking points wrapped up ahead of Leinster's meeting with Saracens on Saturday. Meanwhile James Lowe is expected to start for Leinster as Jamison Gibson-Park looks set to sit out with a hamstring injury, therefore taking the decision of which non-European player to omit out of Leo Cullen's hands. In his column this morning Gerry Thornley looks ahead to what should be titanic encounter between the best two sides in Europe. "The two clubs are very similar, and yet they are very different. They are envied, yet one ventures Saracens are more disliked, particularly so by the other English clubs, which merely serves to strengthen their 'no-one likes us but we don't care' mentality," he writes. Jerome Garces will oversee Saturday's match at St James's Park and Leinster will know that they must adapt to his certain tendencies of letting the play develop at the breakdown. However, James Ryan and Stuart Lancaster both said yesterday that they cannot let the referee's style sidetrack them.
On to GAA and Kevin McStay returns with his column this morning in which he writes that football needs to move on from old rituals and perhaps ditch the traditional overseas start to the championship. McStay managed Roscommon when they played New York in the Bronx in 2016 and writes "I remember having this feeling that I didn't care if we win or lost in that moment. I have spoken to other managers who go out there and this is a recurring theme. It had become a dismal experience. If you are a manager or a player, the New York tie is just a box ticker. In the minds of visiting managers, it is a redundant fixture, a duty to fulfil with no obvious gain. And yet. And yet. As a GAA person, I am a huge fan of it."
Finally to snooker and Judd Trump claimed his first World Championship in emphatic fashion at the Crucible last night with an 18-9 hammering of John Higgins.
