Tottenham Hotspur registered their first away win of the season last night, as they routed Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at the Marakana, to put themselves within touching distance of the Champions League knockout stages. Son Heung-min was on target twice - after being involved in the incident which saw Everton's Andre Gomes seriously injured on Sunday - with Giovani Lo Celso's comical opener and Christian Eriksen bookending the scoring. Elsewhere Manchester City were held 1-1 by Serie A side Atalanta at the San Siro, Mario Pasalic cancelling out Raheem Sterling's fine opener. City finished the match with Kyle Walker in goal, with Claudio Bravo sent off in the 81st minute after he replaced the injured Ederson at half-time. Among the night's other results, Real Madrid thrashed Galatasaray 6-0 and PSG squeezed past Club Brugge, winning 1-0 in Paris. Earlier in the evening Arsenal were denied at the death as they drew 1-1 with Vitoria de Guimaraes on a sodden evening in northern Portgal. Tonight Manchester United welcome Partizan Belgrade to Old Trafford (kick-off 8pm) and Celtic face Lazio in Rome (5.55pm).
Elsewhere the 2019-20 Heineken Champions Cup was officially launched in Cardiff yesterday, with Leinster and Ireland outhalf Johnny Sexton reflecting on his side's poor showing at the Rugby World Cup, and suggesting there was only one way to view 2019: "As a failure. You can have opinions on why but it is a failure. We didn't do what we wanted in the Six Nations. We didn't do what we wanted in the World Cup so there is no other way to look at it." But he insists Ireland were well prepared for their quarter-final clash with the All Blacks, in which they were routed 46-14: "We trained unbelievably well. We prepared unbelievably well. There seemed to be a feel of a really special week but we weren't clinical enough on the day. They obviously played exceptional." Meanwhile former England and current Harlequins captain Chris Robshaw has been critical of Saracens, with the English champions facing a 35-point deduction and €6.2million fine for a breach of the Premiership salary cap. He said: "Call it what you want. It is cheating. It is not a good situation for our sport to be in. It is not a thing we pride ourselves on."
The Turkish Airline Opens gets underway in Antalya today, with Shane Lowry playing his penultimate event of a golden year. However, the British Open champions already has his sights set on competing in next year's Tokyo Olympics. Asked by Philip Reid if the thought of carrying the Irish flag at the opening ceremony had crossed his mind, he said: "I wouldn't say 'no'. Everybody knows how patriotic and Irish I am but, look, there is obviously going to be other athletes there who will be putting their name forward I am sure. Wouldn't it be an incredible honour for myself and my family to do something like that?" Lowry tees off alongside defending champion Justin Rose and Bernd Wiesberger at 9am Irish time, with Padraig Harrington underway at 8.30am.
In her column this morning Sonia O'Sullivan talks about her experience at the Melbourne Cup - her first taste of the Race that Stops a Nation, despite Melbourne being her home from home for the last 24 years. She writes: "I settled on Master of Reality, a play on words as I ambled around this very different world of fashion and fun - and probably a few steps away from the reality of everyday life for most. Also a bit of loyalty to a horse trained by another our own Joseph O'Brien, son of Aidan."
And the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships get underway in Dubai today, with Lithuanian-born Greta Streimikyte among Ireland's medal hopes. She competes in the T13 1,500m final on November 14th, as she looks to build on the European gold she secured in 2018. Ahead of the games, she said: "I adapt, you always adapt, that is the thing about Paralympians, we are amazing at adapting because we don't have a choice. I never overthink this part of training, I just do what I do."
