Darragh Ó Sé: Mayo must rattle Dubs

With the All-Ireland final just days away the question lingering on everybody’s lips is how can Mayo stop Dublin - and in his column today Darragh O Se tries to answer it.

He believes Mayo not only need their own game plan to be faultless but to also put the Dubs off theirs, he writes: “So Rochford can be brave here. Whatever gameplan he gives them, he has their trust now.

“To beat Dublin, you need to commit fully to it. You can’t be a little bit pregnant. Do everything possible to distract Dublin and throw them off their rhythm. But whatever you do, don’t half do it.”

And he suggests the way to do this is to put pressure on the champions’ key man, their goalkeeper: “Let’s go back to Stephen Cluxton. When have we seen Dublin be vulnerable? When Cluxton’s kick-outs come under pressure.”

Win and Mayo will no longer be Mayo

Meanwhile Malachy Clerkin asks what will happen should Mayo end 65-years of hurt and finally lift Sam Maguire on Sunday, he writes: “If Mayo win the All-Ireland, who will we cry about then? Whose famine do we adopt as our own?”

Barca thrash Celtic

In the Champions League last night Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic were embarrassed by Barcelona, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 evisceration at the Nou Camp.

Elsewhere a late Alexis Sanchez goal earned Arsenal a point away at PSG, while Manchester City’s clash with Borussia Monchengladbach was postponed due to heavy rain in the North West.

That fixture will be replayed tonight, with Leicester City taking on Club Brugge and Tottenham Hotspur facing Monaco as a sold-out Wembley.

Fourth final for Turner

Elsewhere in Rio 14-year-old swimmer Nicole Turner reached her fourth final of the Paralympics yesterday, finishing eighth in the S6 400m freestyle.