In a year of such uncertainty and financial difficulties for League of Ireland clubs, Dundalk chose a perfect time to hit the jackpot by beating KI Klaksvik to reach the Europa League group stages. Goals from Seán Murray, Daniel Cleary and Daniel Kelly sent Filippo Giovagnoli's side to the group stages for the second time in their history and banked them a a windfall of at least €2.92m. Afterwards, the Italian said he would love to draw Tottenham Hotspur so that his side could face up against José Mourinho and this afternoon at 12pm he will find out if that is the case when the group stage draw is made. "Giovagnoli has made his mark having taken charge in late summer since when he has transformed the fortunes of a team that had somehow lost its way," writes Emmet Malone. Elsewhere, Arsenal were rewarded for their penalty shootout Carabao Cup win over Liverpool with a quarter-final tie against Manchester City while Manchester United will meet Everton.
On to rugby and the Pro14 gets underway this evening with Leinster in action against Dragons while Ulster face Scarlets. In his team selection, Leo Cullen has opted for playing Jordan Larmour on the wing and yesterday he explained that it gives him more freedom to roam. The Leinster head coach also voiced his thoughts on the four South African Super Rugby teams joining the Pro14 – something he sees as being a major benefit to the teams in the league. Meanwhile, the absence of the injured Stuart McCloskey has facilitated the introduction of Stewart Moore at inside centre for Ulster's meeting with Benetton.
This weekend the London Marathon takes place but it will be an edition of the famous race that is not quite as we know it. The event will only be for elite runners and one of them is Ireland's Mick Clohisey. Yesterday morning he was picked up at Heathrow Airport and taken in a biosecure taxi to a biosecure hotel sitting somewhere on 40 acres of its own country grounds at an undisclosed location outside the city, writes Ian O'Riordan.
In GAA, Seán Moran speaks to former Cork All-Ireland winner Dr John Considine about how GAA attendances could be impacted in the future by revised attitudes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. "The evidence on people who attend games, studies show, is that those who were brought to matches by their parents when they were younger tend to be those who attend later. There's a follow-through. Break that chain for maybe two or three years that's a whole cohort that hasn't acquired that identifiable experience of going to games," he says.
Finally, in his column this morning Johnny Watterson looks at how elite sportspeople use the rules to their advantage on occasion, proving that the rest of us are just all suckers.
