LAST YEAR’S RUNNERS-UP Atletico Madrid moved a step closer to qualifying for the last 16 of this season’s Champions League with a comfortable 5-0 win over Malmo at the Vicente Calderon to go top of Group A.
It took the Spanish champions until after half-time to make the breakthrough, but once Koke had finished off a fine team move to open the scoring there was little doubt Diego Simeone’s men were headed for victory.
Two goals in two minutes from Mario Mandzukic — his 19th in 23 Champions League appearances — and Antoine Griezmann just after the hour mark made the game safe before late goals from Diego Godin and Alessio Cerci rounded off the scoring.
Previous leaders Juventus slumped to a 1-0 loss at Olympiakos with Swiss midfielder Pajtim Kasami scoring a first half winner.
In Group C, 10-man Bayer Leverkusen went top with a 2-0 win over Andre Villas-Boas’ Zenit St Petersburg to claim a second straight victory.
Monaco’s goalless draw at home to Benfica means Leverkusen took over at the top, despite having lost their opening match at Monaco before beating Benfica at the BayArena.
Defenders Giulio Donati and Kyriakos Papadopoulos scored the Germans’ goals.
Leverkusen were forced to play the final ten minutes a man down after Brazilian left-back Wendell was sent off for a second yellow-card.
Hon Ireland….finish this on a high !
@Jb Walshe: amazing how the media have decided that O’Mahoney should be written off.
@Jp Cleary: his performances have more to do with that than the media. Does he really deserve to be one of the highest paid players in the country for so little output?
English referees coincidentally finding a knock-on where there wasn’t one and ignoring a head shot.
Absolute joke
@teuO6nLS: – he didn’t see the “try” so couldn’t give it and the tmo ignored the head shot. Plus it was never a try in a million years and he lost control of it
@teuO6nLS: thank you. I thought the same thing. That was a try until Karl Dixon stuck his nose in, then suddenly it wasn’t. Oh I was seething, but we’ve won it now, so justice is done :)
Refereeing laws need to be looked at…should leave question open to TMO, try yes or no…and let them decide.
So the TMO sees that from Harry but misses the one on Furlong from a yard out. The refereeing really has been a farce
Cooooommmoooon Ireland. 38-16 win.
@Willie Murphy: Appalling tactics that will only give Scotland confidence. Possibly the worst half tactically in the AF era. Unbelievable idea to turn the fastest scrum half in the game into the slowest…
@Thesaltyurchin: Ringrose needed,our centre partnership is fine defensively but attack wise I’ve sharper butter knives in the kitchen.
Terrible atmosphere there. So dead.
Are all the yuppies not feeling patriotic?
@Damien O’Sullivan: was thinking the exact same. reminds me of the games during covid when the stadium was empty.
@Damien O’Sullivan: every stadium lacks atmosphere when the home team is playing shite
@Pud: Well wake up boys!! Bring the passion
@Pud: Yuppies waking up a bit… team too
Christ, still no work done to improve the lineout
Crowley, Nash and Larmour are a level or 2 below Sexton, Hansen and Keenan. Ringrose should be playing 13. We have 2 12′s out there right now. Scotland’s defense has not really been tested, easy day for them so far.
All the armchair ‘experts’ on here. How may of you have played International Rugby?
Just enjoy the win and the back to back 6 Nations!
It’s already a one man show from Bundee Aki.
Fair juice to the team and management…Proud to be Irish
hard to see how farrell and co are improving this team week on week. attack that is one dimensional and predictable. a set piece that is average at best.
@Niall English: prioritizing highlight reel moments over basics in the pack.
James Ryan gets dog’s abuse from those with red tinted glasses for “only” doing the basics – securing quick ruck ball, running the lineout and making a ridiculous number of tackles. All three things are missing badly from the team
@Niall English: i’d have ryan with beirney in the second row if all being fit. what we are lacking today is ball carrying in the pack. cant get over the gain line and get on the front foot and give our backs a platform to play from. our attack is basically running the same back line, screen pass move with one or two slight variations. so easy to defend against.
@teuO6nLS: James Ryan missed the tackle for Scotland last try. This says it all, no matter what colour you are.
@teuO6nLS: I was never as high Ryan as others, but it seems more than a coincidence that every time Ireland/Leinster seem to struggle/outright lose he’s not in the game day 23. It happened in the world cup, it happened in this years 6N and it happened to Leinster in last years Heineken Cup. Clearly he is their talisman.
@Joe Kelly: think you’ve had a few too many beers, James Ryan is injured and wasn’t playing today
Larmour starting internationals in the year 2024 says it all. Another fella living on past “glories”
@mWhSNsK2: he’s 26 ffs not like he’s a player on his last legs being picked again despite constantly failing to turn up like others
@teuO6nLS: he wasn’t good enough 4 years ago, he’s not in his clubs first 23 when all are fit. He should be nowhere near a 6N squad, nevermind starting. His first touch today was him running backwards ffs
@mWhSNsK2: he’s started on the right wing for Leinster all season what are you on about?
@teuO6nLS: because Lowe was on his extended break and JOB got injured. They come back in, he’s out of the 23
James Lowe shocking again today. Finishes a few tries in the corners that even I would score. The guy can’t tackle, defensive positioning is dreadful and he can’t kick.
@Ray Ridge: I’d say you couldn’t finish a donut and know nothing about rugby or Lowe. He has an excellent kick and is a great finisher.
Leaving Henderson out, even as a sub, is looking like a mistake. Very little leadership in the team and clearly no one in the pack knows how to run a lineout
The penalty machine that is Joe Mccarthy at it again.
@Ray Ridge: what’s the odds on more penalties conceded than carries?
Thank heavens for Gibson-Park, Aki and Lowe….
@Michael KILLIAN: we need more Kiwis :)
Larmour needs to step up today
@Dave Moran: More headless chicken running around no doubt.
@Dave Moran: Keenan a big loss but this team has enough to cope without him. Larmour just needs to do the basics right.
@Ray Ridge: bore
Quinlan with his usual biased red tinted glasses comments, if a munster player had the scutters out there, he’d give them a standing ovation!!!
@den: Also only highlighting errors made by Leinster players – he is a complete dose. Worst co-commentater out there. He makes Donal Lenehan look unbiased and that takes some doing.
@den: fool
I don’t know which is worse the effort from the players or the effort from the officials…
@Shanek: the effort from so called fans who can’t enjoy the game. Yuo know the ones who know everything.
Hopefully the Leinster players can do enough in the collision today to accommodate Beirne and O Mahony. Will be comfortable win if so
@Eoin H: It’s Irish players not Leinster. This is International not provincial!!
@Eoin H: like they did against La Rochelle…..twice?
@Eoin H: like small Joe last week?
@Eoin H: this is obviously a joke because you picked Beirne and POM. If you’d said Murray it’d be harder to tell if you were serious or not…
@Eoin H: assuming omahony can stay on the field for once
@Eoin H: don’t forget Bundee without Leinster he’d be terrible. Sausage
@Eoin H: Yea, ‘comfortable’
@Eoin H: Dublin Jackeen.
@Eoin H: blue eyed fool, go home to mammy in d4.
I think Ireland’s golden era may be over…
@M To The B: yeah, played terrible over the last 2 games
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
Jesus, if we have to call on Larmour to plug a hole in fullback we are truly in trouble. He proved today he isn’t good enough at this level, hopefully we blood a rival fullback in the summer, o’brien is injured i know and is a good option (you need at least 3 deep)but Haley is a far better option than relying on lads like larmour today. If only we kept Carbery as a full back……..
Jheez, its like they dont want to be there. Kick Kick Kick. boring, and inviting Scotland into the game. Worst tactics ever in a half of rugby
Terrible performance and it looked like last week really spooked them. Mind you, we were playing with 13 as Larmour contributed nothing and O’Mahony was a passenger again
@Darragh Freir: leave the blue glasses at home
We are Not Favourites
We can’t be Favourites
C’mon IRELAND
Have a feeling POM is gonna retire after this game
@mWhSNsK2: think he’s retired during the match
@orb7eckn: if he did, Ireland are goosed. Bundee is the only other player that has a semblance of a leader
@mWhSNsK2: The entire Irish pack looks like the don’t care.
@mWhSNsK2: No POM is still out there, but he ain’t a leader in any sense of the word.
@orb7eckn: then you’re a blind boy,as he’s doing as much carrying and tackling as Doris and VdF.
@mWhSNsK2: a lot of lads ought to retire after this shitshow.
@mark sheehan: I stand corrected, larmour should be nowhere near that team
Lineout is a shambles… limped to a title.. kiddin ourselves with the “one of best in the world” nonsense.
@barry fay: Best team in the 6 nations, top 3 in the world, which part of world class don’t you understand. Scotland are a good team
@Fergal Smith: Top3… who ya kiddin.. get past a qtr final and we can talk.. all the rest is fluff.
@barry fay: you not asleep yet
@barry fay: You obviously don’t know the game or who they lost to. Negative Armchair expert, the cold and timid soul who neither knows victory or defeat.
Just awful. We haven’t improved that’s it in a nutshell
Please, please bring the bench on at 50 mins
@rayridge Scotland by how much ??
@Gary Galligan: A bit like the England match last week, this won’t be the cakewalk many people think.
First half was abysmal by Ireland just like
O’Mahony last 2 performance. He really cost us the grand Slam. A passenger now really and keeping an excellent prospect from actually contributing something to the team.
A mistake making him captain this year ad the line out is still not functioning and also cost us a semi final in the World Cup.
St Paulie needs to be held to account.
@Jimmy Bean: hahahhahaha talk about bitter