Graham Gartland, Shelbourne's Rachel Graham and Richie Towell join Raf Diallo on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast as the fallout from the Armenia defeat is discussed, there's reaction to the Men's and Women's FAI Cup action and the start of the Champions League looms with two live games on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this week.
TIMESTAMPS
00:50 Richie and Graham reflect back on the Republic of Ireland's damaging World Cup qualifying defeat in Armenia and the renewed spotlight it puts on player production pathways.
21:40 While Ireland are unlikely to be at the 2026 World Cup, one Crumlin man could be with Cape Verde's Pico Lopes closing in on qualification. Richie discusses his former Shamrock Rovers team-mate.
25:25 Graham and Richie review the weekend's Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup quarter-finals (you can watch some of the key moments from the two live TV games on the YouTube version of the podcast) including Kerry's historic win over Sligo Rovers, as well as reaction from Colin Healy, Stephen Bradley, Kevin Doherty and Stephen Kenny.
52:30 Richie and Graham react to Derry City's thrilling win over Bohemians which saw the Candystripes leapfrog Bohs into second place in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division.
57:00 Graham and Richie look ahead to the two Champions League games on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this midweek: Liverpool v Atletico Madrid (Wednesday) and Newcastle v Barcelona (Thursday).
01:01:05 Rachel discusses Athlone Town's first leg defeat at Glasgow City in the Women's Europa Cup first qualifying round and how the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division leaders might approach the second leg amid upheaval after manager Colin Fortune's unexpected resignation last week.
01:06:45 Rachel reviews the weekend's Sports Direct Women's FAI Cup semi-finals which saw Athlone and Bohemians advance to the decider, and looks back at the league action as her own Shelbourne team closed the gap at the top, Galway United got the better of in-form Peamount United and two of the league's players left for Scottish side Hibernian.
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Watch Liverpool v Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
Watch Newcastle United v Barcelona in the Champions League on Thursday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
