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Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has called Portsmouth winger Millenic Alli into his squad for Tuesday’s friendly against North Macedonia in Dublin [19:45 BST].

The 26-year-old earns his first call-up to the senior squad and took part in training at Abbotstown on Sunday.

Alli began his career in England playing non-league before signing for Exeter City in 2024, catching the eye of Luton Town who spent £1.5 million to bring him to Kenilworth Road.

The Dubliner scored four goals in the final six games of last season, but the Hatters would suffer relegation to League One.

Despite falling out of favour, Alli was picked up on loan by Portsmouth and he has started all 14 games since his arrival at Fratton Park.

He has scored once in the Championship club’s bid to beat the drop and his performances have caught the attention of Hallgrimsson who brings him into the squad with others unavailable for Tuesday.

Midfielder Jack Taylor has left the squad for family reasons, while Sammie Szmodics has returned to Derby County to continue his recovery from a concussion sustained in Thursday’s World Cup play-off semi-final defeat on penalties by the Czech Republic.

That defeat in Prague saw the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for this summer’s World Cup come to an end, while North Macedonia were beaten in their semi-final by Denmark, leaving both nations to face each other in a friendly.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin expects his team to embrace lofty expectations that follow the Bruins any time they take the floor during the NCAA tournament.

The program has won an NCAA record 11 national titles and made 19 Final Four appearances.

No. 7-seed UCLA’s (22-11) push for another deep NCAA tournament run begins Friday against No. 10-seed Central Florida (21-11) in Philadelphia in the East Regional. If the Bruins win, they will face the winner of No. 2 Connecticut (29-5) versus No. 15 Furman (22-12).

Cronin was hoping the Bruins, who flew home from the Big Ten tournament in Chicago on Sunday morning, would get a break and open postseason play Friday rather than Thursday. He recalled playing in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship on Sundays and still getting assigned Thursday NCAA tournament games, but Purdue coach Matt Painter told Cronin on Saturday night that he should be in line for a Friday NCAA tournament opener and the forecast proved accurate.

Cronin said the universal UCLA program focus on NCAA tournament success drove his decision to hold forward Tyler Bilodeau and guard Donovan Dent out of a 73-66 Big Ten semifinal loss to Purdue on Saturday night at the United Center. Bilodeau’s injury was a minor knee sprain suffered in the win over Michigan State on Friday, while Dent suffered a minor calf strain early in the game against the Boilermakers. Both are expected to be ready to play Friday.

“Tyler could have played [against Purdue.] You know, Donny could have played. They would have been playing hurt,” Cronin said after the loss to the Boilermakers. “I wouldn’t have played them in a regular season game. I just try to take care of guys.”

The coach said the extra minutes played by Eric Freeny, Xavier Booker, Steven Jamerson II and Brandon Williams will help the Bruins when the full lineup is in place for NCAA tournament games.

He called the team’s effort to push eventual Big Ten champion Purdue valiant, but the games ahead in March simply mean more to the Bruins.

“With all due respect to the Big Ten, you could see how hard our guys are trying to win,” Cronin said. “But our guy are well aware, because they practice under 11 banners that say national championship every day. They warm up under another banner with 19 Final Fours on it. We don’t even have one with conference championships cause there’s 36 or something. There’s so many. So [this] week is what it’s about for us.”

UCLA enters the tournament on a 4-1 streak, looking especially strong since the calendar hit March.

“I was happy with the way we competed,” Cronin said when asked whether he learned anything about his players during a spirited Big Ten tournament run. “… We got talent, we just haven’t always had our mind on defense, which is very rare for teams that I coach. We got great guys. Since March 1 or whenever the heck we played Nebraska, it’s been a noted change in our team, we’ve just got to keep it up. And we’ve got to get some rebounds out of the five spot.

”… We’re at UCLA, no matter who we take the floor against in the NCAA tournament, we’re going to be the ones wearing the baby blues and four letters. So we believe in ourselves.”

UCF is coached by former Duke star Johnny Dawkins. Point guard Themus Fulks is a key leader for the Knights, earning third team All-Big 12 honors after averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 assists per contest during the regular season.

UCF posted top-25 wins over Kansas, Texas Tech and Brigham Young.

Barcelona needed Lamine Yamal’s penalty with the last kick of the game to cancel out Harvey Barnes’s opener.

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal struck ⁠from the ⁠penalty spot with the final kick of the game to salvage ⁠a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in the first leg of their ⁠Champions League last-16 tie, cancelling out a late strike from Harvey Barnes.

Newcastle appeared set to take a ‌slender advantage into the second leg after Barnes scored in the 86th minute, when he volleyed home Jacob Murphy’s cross on Tuesday.

But elation for the home fans turned to heartbreak when Malick ⁠Thiaw brought Dani Olmo ⁠down in the box in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and Yamal fired the penalty into ⁠the bottom corner as Aaron Ramsdale dove the ⁠wrong way.

Newcastle’s Joelinton thought ⁠he had scored earlier in the second half when he smashed home the rebound of Barnes’s shot ‌off the post, but the linesman quickly raised his flag for offside. ‌

The ‌second leg is at Barcelona on March 18.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Mario Lemina’s early diving header handed Galatasaray a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in their Champions League last-16 first leg in Istanbul, leaving the tie finely balanced after ⁠a compelling contest in which both sides saw goals disallowed.

The Turkish champions struck after seven minutes, when Lemina nodded home after Victor Osimhen headed a corner back across goal, giving them a precious advantage ahead of ⁠the second leg at Anfield.

In Italy, Bayern Munich dismantled ⁠Atalanta 6-1 ⁠in a dominant Champions League last-16 first-leg performance on Tuesday, seizing ⁠control from the outset in Bergamo.

The visitors surged into a ⁠three-goal lead within the opening 25 minutes, leaving the home side struggling to gain any sort of foothold ‌in the contest.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid tore Tottenham Hotspur apart in ⁠a stunning ⁠first-half blitz on Tuesday, powering to a 5-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions ⁠League last-16 tie and leaving the Premier League side with a mountain to climb in London.

The visitors’ ⁠22-year-old goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, endured a night to forget on his first appearance since October and only his third of the season.

Two costly errors from the Czech helped Atletico ‌race into a commanding lead, and he was substituted in the 17th minute by manager Igor Tudor immediately after Atletico’s third goal.