RUGBY
Leinster are first up, travelling to Castres on Friday night (Sky Sports 2, 7.45pm) targeting the win that will guarantee them home advantage in the last eight.
Ulster - who lost to Exeter last week - host Bordeaux-Begles Saturday lunchtime (Sky Sports 3, 1pm) with progression still a mathematical possibility but realistically highly improbable.
They need a bonus-point win and all the other teams currently ranked in the top eight to be defeated heavily enough not to pick up a losing bonus point to have any chance.
A Thomond Park victory for red-hot Munster against Racing 92 (Sky Sports 2, 5.30pm) would give Rassie Erasmus's men a home quarter, and a bonus against their French visitors would do their chances of a top-two seeding for the semi-finals no harm whatsoever.
On Sunday afternoon Connacht go to Toulouse (Sky Sports 4, 3.15pm) hunting for the win or draw that will squeeze them through.
They can actually lose and still get past the pool stages for the first time in their history - if Pat Lam's men deny Toulouse a try bonus and claim a losing bonus point themselves, or claim both a losing bonus and a try bonus.
There's highlights of the European collisions on TG4 (Friday 11.15pm, Saturday 10.15pm and Sunday 5.45pm).
SOCCER
The African Cup of Nations may be the bane of many a Premier League manager's life but it rumbles on with Congo's clash against the Ivory Coast on Friday afternoon followed by Morocco's tussle with Togo (Eurosport 1, 4pm & 7pm).
The fun continues on Saturday with Ghana v Mali and Egypt v Uganda (Eurosport 1, 4pm & 7pm), while on Sunday Cameroon take on Gabon (Eurosport 1, 7pm).
On Saturday Liverpool will look to maintain their Premier League title push when they welcome Swansea to Anfield (BT Sport 1, 12.30pm), and after that Irish viewers only will get the chance to see how their great rivals Manchester United fare when they travel to Stoke City (Sky Sports 5, 3pm).
The cherry on top is a clash that could hammer the final nail in Manchester City's title hopes as they host in-form Spurs (BT Sport 1, 5.30pm).
There's an alternative view of the summer odyssey that was Euro 2016 on Saturday evening with Sounds Of The Summer (RTÉ2, 8.25pm), a Cillian Murphy-narrated film of the tournament that provides a behind-the-scenes peek at how the drama unfolded.
On Sunday there's a triple-header of Premier League action on Sky Sports 1 with Southampton v Leicester (12pm), Arsenal v Burnley (2.15pm) and table-toppers Chelsea v Hull City (4.30pm), while Celtic will look to avoid a Scottish Cup upset at Albion Rovers (Sky Sports 5, 3pm).
In La Liga Barcelona will try to keep the heat on Real Madrid when they travel to Eibar (Sky Sports 5, 7.45pm)
HORSE RACING
There's some decent fare for racing fans over the weekend.
Ed Chamberlain presents live coverage from Ascot and Haydock on Saturday (ITV4, from 1.30pm), with Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh going for the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase with Un De Sceaux.
And on Sunday, Robert Hall - with a little help from Ted Walsh, Brian Gleeson, Tom Lee and Tracy Piggott - brings us the best Leopardstown has to offer, including the €100,000 Coral.ie Hurdle, (RTÉ2, from 1.30pm).
GOLF
Paul Dunn is well in contention at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and he'll hope to keep up the pace over the weekend.
You can follow his progress on Sky Sports 4, (live from 8.30am Saturday, 8am Sunday).
Waterford's Seamus Power is among those looking to make hay at The CareerBuilder Challenge in California.
Live coverage is also on Sky Sports (live from 8pm Saturday 10.15pm).
TENNIS
Novak Djokovic was a shock casualty at the Australian Open when he fell wildcard Denis Istomin on Thursday.
The other heavyweights will hope to avoid the ignominy of defeat as the first Grand Slam of the year continues, with live coverage on Eurosport 1 (from 6am on Saturday and Sunday).
SNOOKER
Ronnie O'Sullivan set up a semi-final showdown with Marco Fu on Thursday at the Masters, which heads for its climax.
Joe Perry or Ding Junhui will play Barry Hawkins in the other last-four showdown, and you can follow the action frame by frame on Saturday on Eurosport 2 (1pm-4pm, 6.45pm-10pm), BBC1 (1.15pm-4.30pm) and BBC2 (4.30pm-5.30pm & 7pm-10.30pm).
For the decider on Sunday tune into BBC 2 (1pm-5.15pm, 7pm-11pm) or Eurosport 2 (1pm-4pm, 6.45pm-10pm).
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
Who's going to the Super Bowl? The race continues as Atlanta Falcons take on Green Bay Packers at Georgia Dome (Sky Sports 1, 8.05pm), and New England Patriots square up to the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Gillette Stadium (Sky Sports 1, 11.40pm).
WATCH live coverage of racing from Leopardstown, including the €100,000 Coral.ie Hurdle, from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 this Sunday.
LISTEN to live coverage of Castres v Leinster this Friday on 2fm’s extended Game On (KO 7.45pm) and Toulouse v Connacht in the Champions Cup on RTÉ Radio’s Sunday Sport (KO 3.15pm)
