Well, that optimism faded quickly. A record six of English clubs qualified for the round of 16 in the Champions League and not one of them won their first leg. To replace foolish hubris with disproportionate gloom, the last time there were no English clubs in the quarter-finals was 2015.
Game on, then. Chelsea (who lost 5-2 at Paris Saint-Germain) and Manchester City (3-0 at Real Madrid) have the toughest tasks on Tuesday, but Arsenal will be confident about converting a drawn first leg into a win at home to Bayer Leverkusen, who are on a poor run in the Bundesliga (TNT Sports, 8pm).
Newcastle also resume on level terms on Wednesday but go to Barcelona, who equalised with a 96th-minute penalty (TNT Sports 2, 5.45pm). Liverpool may overturn a 1-0 deficit at home to Galatasaray, while Tottenham must come back from 5-2 against Atlético Madrid (TNT Sports 1 and 3, 8pm). One suspects that Igor, Spurs’ head coach, will become the shortest-lived Tudor ruler since Lady Jane Grey.
Regardless of how last night’s match in Paris went, it has been a disappointing Six Nations for England. The Under-20s side have been better but struggled to beat Wales in their opening match and lost to Ireland, who are chasing the Triple Crown against Scotland. England are too far back to win the championship but could deny France the grand slam (today, BBC iPlayer, 3.15pm and 5.45pm).
Today also brings the final of the Premiership (I will not call it Prem) Rugby Cup. First held in 2018-19, it has had six different winners in six years and 10 different finalists. Could Leicester make it seven from seven or will Exeter be the first to win it twice (TNT Sports 1, 3.30pm)?
The Players Championship also throws up a variety of winners with 42 of them in 51 years. Scottie Scheffler, in 2024, is the only champion of golf’s unofficial fifth major to defend his title and Rory McIlroy’s recent back injury, which led to him pulling out of the Bay Hill Invitational last weekend, may hinder last year’s winner repeating the feat (final round today, Sky Sports Golf, 7pm).
One of the stars of Team GB at the Winter Paralympics has been Pickle, the black labrador who appeared in Channel 5’s Puppy School for Guide Dogs. Her owner, Hester Poole, has been competing in the visually impaired skiing. Britain won their first medal on Wednesday as Neil Simpson took silver in the alpine combined, having had two fourth places earlier in the competition. Simpson has another chance on the final day in the slalom, in which he is fifth in this year’s standings (today, Channel 4, 7.50am). The closing ceremony is at 7.30pm.
Photography by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images
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