For Extratime.ie, book review: Gods Vs Mortals: Irish Clubs in Europe

In light of Dundalk's recent European adventure, a review of a book chronicling the greatest exploits of all League of Ireland clubs in continental competition seemed appropriate. Paul Keane does an excellent job documenting ten such memorable occasions in his book Gods Vs Mortals.

If Dundalk get Celtic, Aviva Stadium could work against them

Dundalk achieved one of the biggest results in the club's European history by seeing off BATE Borisov over two-legs to reach the Champions League play-off round. With Tallaght Stadium needing numerous upgrades to make it fit by UEFA standards to host a tie in this round, the Aviva Stadium is looking more likely to be used by the Lilywhites for their home leg, and this could be to Dundalk's detriment if they do indeed draw Celtic.

Decent week in Europe for the LOI sides

Three 1-1 draws, two away from home. Fans of Cork City and St. Patrick's Athletic would have probably taken score-draws from their first-leg jaunts to Sweden and Belarus in the Europa League. For Dundalk, the concession of an away goal means they face an uphill task when they go to Iceland - the home of ' The Mountain', Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson - for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier next week.

For Extratime.ie: Ruud Gullit - Roberto Di Matteo put Chelsea on the map

Former Chelsea player and manager Ruud Gullit has claimed that it was Roberto Di Matteo who put the Londoners on the map of international football – not current Blues boss Jose Mourinho.

For Extratime.ie: Kenny admits to tough European draw

Stephen Kenny believes that Belarusian champions FC BATE Borisov represent as tough a challenge as Dundalk could have been given from Monday's Champions League second qualifying round draw, but told Extratime.ie after the match-up had been made: “We ourselves are formidable as well.”

For Extratime.ie: Top 5 Irish appearance holders in European competition

With the qualifying round draws for the 2015/16 Champions League and Europa League set to take place in UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Monday, there is a keen Irish interest in the outcome – and not just from League of Ireland supporters.

Cillian Sheridan: a maverick worth following

Cillian Sheridan. The man from Cavan appeared on RTÉ's Soccer Republic on Monday night to be interviewed as part of the Irish Abroad segment - and in the face of questions from Tony O'Donoghue, he just completely, almost comically, undersold the impressive nature of every one of his recent career experiences, some of which he'll be hard pushed to ever repeat again. 

Mario Götze: this decade's Michael Ballack?

A relatively unheralded German club reaches the final of the Champions League, defeating the champions of England along the way, with their star player - viewed as the most gifted of his generation by some - already signed by  the biggest club in Germany, Bayern Munich, for the following season.

The Belgian footballing mini-pilgrimage, April 2013

On April Fool's Day 2013, I jetted* out to Belgium to visit a friend who is currently living in the city of Leuven. Anthony Gallagher and I are long time acolytes of the game and will watch a match anywhere we can whenever we can - and his current Erasmus placement afforded us an opportunity to add to our last experience of European football.

On the importance of Neil Lennon staying at Celtic

Only 17 men have had the distinction of managing Glasgow Celtic in 125 years. Of those 17, only eight were in charge for three years or less - Liam Brady (1991-93), Lou Macari (93-94), Tommy Burns (94-97), Wim Jansen (97-98), John Barnes/Kenny Dalglish (99-2000) and Tony Mowbray (09-10). And presently, Neil Lennon is the eighth - this is only his third full season at the helm (but he's in charge three-and-a half years having taking over from Mowbray in March 2010 on a temporary basis initially).

Remember the name: Cüneyt Çakır

For almost an hour, Manchester United were tactically perfect against Real Madrid. A Gonzalo Higuaín cross which evaded everybody and a rightly disallowed goal aside, United nullified the much-vaunted counter-attacking threat of José Mourinho’s outfit that undone a diminished Barcelona twice in the space of five days. Enter Cüneyt Çakır.