Stephen Kenny's Ireland tenure begins tonight in Sofia with the team's Nations League opener against Bulgaria (kick-off at 7.45pm). Along with the visit of Finland to Dublin on Sunday, Patrick Madden explains in his 'All you need to know guide' that these fixtures hold real importance for Ireland: "Not only is it the start of a new era, but these games could have a major impact on qualification for both next year's delayed European Championships and the 2022 World Cup." In his match preview and probable team selection Emmet Malone expects to see Seamus Coleman start at right back with Shane Long in attack and James McCarthy starting in midfield: "dropping the captain would have been quite a statement but unless Matt Doherty is to somehow be accommodated elsewhere in the team then the Everton veteran is retained on the basis of his stature rather than the pair's respective form". Kenny's greatest challenge however may be living up to his own expectations. Negotiations between Jorge Messi and Barcelona began yesterday, with Lionel Messi's father and agent telling reporters upon his arrival in Catalonia that it is difficult to see his son to continue at the club. Messi Sr also claimed there was no deal with Manchester City, that he had not spoken to Pep Guardiola and he did not know whether his son would be able to leave.

There are immediate consequences for this weekend's Leinster-Munster and Edinburgh-Ulster Pro14 semi-finals, with next season's Champions Cup draw to see the 24 teams divided into four 'tiers' of six teams apiece. Gerry Thornley explains the convoluted one-off format for the 2020-21 Heineken Champions Cup, and how the two semi-final winners will qualify as Tier 1 sides whereas the beaten semi-finalists will be go into Tier 2. John O'Sullivan explains in his Rugby Statistics column that during rugby's return, things have been getting ugly when the breakdown breaks down. The Munster v Connacht match featured 21 infringements and led to three yellow cards: "Based on the two weekends of interprovincial fare, there is still some way to go in terms of player appreciation or recognition of what's permissible. Players push the boundaries by inclination, match officials have been mandated to push back."

Sam Bennett became only the third Irish rider in Tour de France history to don the green jersey, duly decided after another hectic sprint to the stage 5 finish at Privas in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. But for the third time in those opening five stages the outright stage win just about eluded him. The green jersey rewards the Tour's most consistent finisher, usually a sprinter, based on points gained from intermediate sprints and end of stage placing. Bennett came in third on Wednesday behind Belgian rider Wout van Aert, on a day when his team-mate Julian Alaphilippe surrendered the yellow jersey to Adam Yates, after Alaphilippe was hit with a time penalty, the commissaires taking 20 seconds off for an illegal feed inside the final 20 kilometres.

Meanwhile world number one Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 25 matches as he overcame a mild scare against Kyle Edmund in the US Open second round. The British number two took the opening set before the three-time champion found his form. There are plenty of Irish in action this week at the Andalucia Masters and Northern Ireland Open - Philip Reid has the lowdown ahead of the latest European Tour and Challenge Tour events.