Manchester United face an entirely unfamiliar emotional pressure in tonight's Europa League final against Ajax – your city is grieving, you must not let your people down.
After Monday night’s terror attacks in Manchester killed 22 people and injured many more, the stakes have risen above the pursuit of silverware, or Champions League qualification. Jose Mourinho’s team now must patch together more than just their disappointing season.
Ken Early is in Stockholm: "Maybe it's only after something terrible has happened that you also appreciate the calming quality of football, its ritual reassurance. In its regularity and formal predictability, the game is a welcome counterpoint to a reality that is ever more frightening, chaotic and unfathomable."
Meanwhile last night, Sam Allardyce confirmed that he has left his job as Crystal Palace manager. Days after the former England manager saved the club from relegation, he released a statement claiming that he wanted to spend more time with his family, and had no plans to take on another job.
In his column this morning, Gordon D'Arcy writes that after everything that has transpired, if any team deserves to end this season with success it is Munster.
As for Leinster, he feels their back-to-back semi-final defeats will stand to them down the line.
“If winning a trophy is the only measure we judge Leinster by then we have the wrong model in place for that to be a realistic expectation every season, even if it is remains their stated goal both internally and publicly.”
Darragh Ó Sé believes there's way too much democracy in the GAA, questioning the role of Congress in every single rule change.
“I looked around to see how other sports change their rules and there’s never any of this carry-on. Soccer and rugby change rules all the time and there’s never a word about it.”
Matthew Teggart took stage three of the An Post Rás into Bundoran on Tuesday, underlining both his and the Chain Reaction team's quality, after their main sponsor flagged their departure.
