Diego Armando Maradona, in many people's eyes the greatest footballer of all time, has died of a heart attack aged 60. Maradona, who inspired Argentina to the 1986 World Cup, was deified at home, in Naples - where he took Napoli to their first-ever Scudetto in 1987 - and around the world. And this morning Keith Duggan has paid tribute to El Diego, and the absorbing, alluring grip he had on those who were privileged enough to exist at the same time as him. He writes: "In that football strip - and Argentina's may just be the most beautiful jersey of all - Maradona always seemed caught between ecstasy and tears of sadness, as if he had been put on earth just to render explicable the overflow of emotion and feeling that runs through his city and country." And Mary Hannigan has looked at five key moments in Maradona's career, from his senior bow with Argentinos Juniors in 1976, his goals against England in 1986 through to title glory with Napoli a year later.
In today's GAA Statistics column Eamon Donoghue has looked at the rebirth of the long kickout, which has risen like a phoenix from the flames in this year's football Championship. He writes: "After a near decade of chip restarts, possession football, and a hopeless pursuit of beating Dublin at their own game, a counter movement appears to be emerging." And one man in particular is thriving off the back of this - Cavan's Thomas Galligan, who has been a driving force behind the county's Ulster title win and journey to the All-Ireland semi-finals. "Playing with abandon, throwing his body into aerial contests and tackles, Galligan and his Cavan team are a winning contradiction to the modern coaching manual."
Liverpool missed out on the chance to secure qualification into the knockout stages of the Champions League last night, as they were beaten 2-0 at Anfield by Atalanta. Josep Ilicic and Robin Gosens were both on target in the second-half for the Italian visitors. Manchester City are through to the last-16 with two games to spare however after they scraped past Olympiakos in Greece courtesy of an early Phil Foden goal. Tonight in the Europa League Dundalk are at home to Rapid Vienna (kick-off 8pm), with Celtic, Spurs, Arsenal and Leicester also in action.
Andy Farrell will name his Ireland side for Sunday's Nations Cup clash with Georgia at around midday today, and he is expected to shuffle his pack following last weekend's defeat to England. This could see Conor Murray reinstated and Billy Burns handed a first start at outhalf, writes Gerry Thornley. Meanwhile in this morning's Rugby Statistics column John O'Sullivan has looked at Ireland's lineout woes, and suggested there is more to blame than just a poor throw for the side's malfunctioning set-piece.
In her column this morning Sonia O'Sullivan has lamented a lost year for some of Ireland's most promising young athletes, who have been deprived of the competition needed to nurture their development. She writes: "It does make you wonder what effect this will have on the development of these young athletes looking to go one step further each year, especially as this year just plateaued out, providing some maintenance maybe but not really any great progress, or at least none that is measurable beyond the training track."
And Limerick's Will O'Donoghue - who is preparing to take on Galway in this weekend's All-Ireland semi-finals - has echoed his manager John Kiely in questioning the limit on number of players and backroom staff allowed to attend intercounty fixtures. He said: "We're going to an 80,000 stadium, would 10 people, and a few more backroom make a difference? I understand the cap, but I do think there could be an allowance."
