Liverpool humiliated in Naples; O’Sullivan salutes Mageean’s Diamond League win

It was a humiliating night for Liverpool in the Champions League as they conceded four goals to Italian side Napoli in their opening game of the competition. In truth, it could have been more as the hosts sliced through at will in the first half as Jürgen Klopp’s team resembled Champions League novices. It was a better night for Tottenham as Richarlison opened his Spurs account in style as Marseille’s resistance was finally worn down after a red card as the Brazilian forward scored twice with headers in the space of five minutes late in the second half. Meanwhile, Rangers suffered an Ajax hammering on their Champions League group-stage return.

Tonight attention turns to the Europa League and Europa Conference League where Shamrock Rovers are in action in their opening game against Swedish team Djugardens. The fan-owned side come to Tallaght with an impressive domestic record behind them this season. Rovers will secure €500,000 in prize money for victory over Djurgardens. €166,000 for a draw. Rovers are lining up against a club that has a knack for bringing players from Africa to Europe as their sporting director Bosse Andersson has made a name for himself in European and African scouting circles. Elsewhere in soccer, Ireland need the luck of the draw to avoid big European teams in World Cup playoffs as a tie against Scotland or Wales would suit Vera Pauw’s squad. Only three of the nine remaining sides — Wales, Portugal and Bosnia — are ranked below Ireland so the draw is littered with perilous situations.

In today’s subscriber only piece, Sonia O’Sullivan writes that Ciara Mageean breaking her 1,500m record after 27 years was special for both of them. “The record had stood to me since July 1995, set in Monaco in my last race before the World Championships in Gothenburg, and winning there over 5,000m. In some ways a lifetime ago,” O’Sullivan writes. The run in the Diamond League has “catapulted Ciara right up there among the higher echelon of current 1,500m runners, and when you beat these top athletes, you start to think you’ve got the upper hand.” Mageean runs in the Diamond League final in Zurich tonight.

Ciarán Murphy writes that getting a club team out in this weather is no Electric Picnic as the draw of a wet field in Stradbally is lost on many GAA members trying to field teams. “The intermediate team I play with in Dublin had six lads with Electric Picnic tickets,” he writes. In his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan writes that the NFL is turning a blind eye to players’ crimes as fans don’t care if you’re accused of domestic violence, gun crime or even gang rape, as long as the team is winning. Meanwhile, Mary Hannigan writes that Emma Raducanu understands Andrea Jaeger’s mantra that life’s way too short for tennis to be joyless. “Raducanu’s ‘mistake’, of course, was to win the US Open when she was just 18, nothing less than matching that level of achievement thereafter would have silenced her ‘where did it all go wrong?’ critics.”