Second Captains

A seven-goal thriller full of fantastic football and moments of sublime skill executed at blistering speed. And no mind-games, insults or bad feeling - just mutual respect and appreciation. Has Liverpool v Manchester City emerged as the Clasico of the Premier League? Jurgen Klopp's team aren't contenders to win the Premier League but they showed the rest of the league that when it comes to playing City, who dares might just win.Meanwhile Paul Lambert has taken over at Stoke City, meaning that Martin O'Neill is set to carry on with Ireland a while longer.We discuss Der Spiegel's latest eye-watering report on Lionel Messi's financial affairs.Dion Fanning joins us to analyse what's happening with O'Neill and look back on that classic at Anfield.And Sid Lowe explains what is going wrong at Real Madrid.

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Jump in with Eoin, Murph and Roy Keane for some of the week's highlights on the Second Captains World Service.

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Philippe Coutinho has joined Barcelona, as expected, but why did the Spanish club make it happen now instead of waiting until the summer? Meanwhile today is a historic day for English football, which is introducing Video Assistant Refereeing for the first time in tonight's FA Cup match, but the way they are doing it looks all wrong to Ken. Gabriele Marcotti joins us to talk about why Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte seem to loathe each other so much.And Dermot Corrigan tells us how excited, or otherwise, Barcelona are to have signed Philippe Coutinho.

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The Jordan Larmour hype train has officially left the station and is picking up speed, and heading towards the 6 Nations. After his wonder-try against Munster at Thomond Park, Leinster's latest superstar-in-waiting scored twice against Ulster to finish off this round of interpro's in style.Eoin Reddan and Gerry Thornley try and come up with one good reason why Larmour shouldn't feature for Ireland this spring, what sort of Joe Schmidt game plan he would fit into, and why Munster have their toughest test of the season coming up in Paris this weekend.There's also old man Bob Henshaw, how La Rochelle have changed the game, the doomed Simon Hick-Tom Brady partnership, and our scumbag of the week poses an important philosophical question.

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Happy New Year everybody! And to ring in 2018, it’s time for one last look at one of the highlights of 2017. Recorded live at Langton’s Ballroom in Kilkenny City for the Kilkenny Cat Laughs comedy festival, here’s our chat with two of Ireland’s greatest comedians Dara Ó Briain and David O’Doherty. Previously only for fully subscribed members, we present it here to the general public, as an indication of the sort of crazy nonsense that goes on behind that beautiful World Service curtain.

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Manchester City have been making all the other Premier League teams look very ordinary, but how should we feel about the corporate empire that underpins their glorious football? Can we consider the football separately from what lies beneath?We discuss Ferran Soriano’s global vision as detailed to the Guardian’s Giles Tremlett. Is it a vision the rest of us can feel comfortable with?Human rights researcher Nick McGeehan joins us on the line to talk more about the power behind Guardiola’s throne.We also talk about a stunning racial gaffe by Antoine Griezmann, Ederson’s passing ability, and Mark Hughes’ blue.

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For the second time in a week, all 4 Irish provinces were victorious in Europe - Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley give us plenty of reasons to be cheerful heading into the interprovincial games over the Christmas. Munster capitalised on Leicester indiscipline, while Leinster gutted it out to wear down Exeter in a thriller in the Aviva on Saturday evening. Throw in Ulster's try-fest on Friday, and it was a very satisfying couple of days all round. Ronan Sweeney scored the goal that kick-started an unbelievable comeback for Moorefield in the Leinster club football final yesterday, and he joins us too. Plus there's the Dubs getting shafted, disgruntled club players exacting revenge on innocent inter-county selectors, and the BBC's Mo Farah / Chris Froome problem.

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It was billed as a classic battle across the Irish Sea, but when three Irish provinces took on the best from the Premiership, the result was 3-0 Ireland. Leinster took care of Premiership champions Exeter on the south-west coast of England, Ulster beat Harlequins in London, and Munster hammered Leicester in Limerick. Gordon Darcy and Shane Horgan are on hand to pick apart a wildly successful weekend for the Irish teams, including what Matt O'Connor the Leicester coach might have learned from Jose Mourinho, why Ulster blow so hot and cold, and why this doesn't necessarily rank among Leinster's best ever European performances. Plus there's the enduring allure of snow games in the NFL, the importance of the vibes man in dressing room lore, Peter O'Mahony pulling rank, and 'curse o'clock'.

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Manchester City ended Jose Mourinho's hopes of establishing a new unbeaten home record for Manchester United by establishing their own new Premier League record for 14 consecutive league wins in the same season.Was this, as Mourinho suggested, all the fault of referee Michael Oliver, or have City proved beyond doubt that poets do win titles? Are we looking at a second half of the season in which the main interest is derived from waiting to see which one of the Premier League supermanagers trailing in City's wake is first to go into full-on meltdown?Rory Smith of the New York Times joins us to discuss the Manchester derby.And Kieran Canning speaks to us from Madrid to talk about the reaction in Spain to the Champions League draw. Plus there's Klopp's fuse, ace time wasters, the tunnel incident, and Morbo.

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