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In the first hour of the show we'll round up all the day's sports news as usual, but for a variety of reasons today a few people need to pre-record their piece. has only just arrived in for the , and is not surprisingly concerned about staying up until after 1am Bangladesh time to talk to us (with an early start tomorrow).

So as soon as I get in, it's straight into the studio to have a chat (or "do a two-way" in radio lingo) about 's preparations - all very loud and atmospheric with the Opening Ceremony going on behind him.

For the rest of the afternoon I'm dashing between the 5 live Sport office on the 5th floor of TVC and our studios on the 2nd floor. We talk racing after the tragic deaths of two horses at , analyze the tortuous legal battle between Tom Hicks and Liverpool, and look at the possibility of the being cancelled because of the anti-government protests.

In between the pre-recs (more lovely radio jargon), I sit down for a meeting with one of our editors, Steve, to talk about upcoming plans for programmes over the summer. I'm doing the again and working at , which is great news. Racing was one of my weaker spots until last year, and while I'm still aware of a few gaps in my knowledge, I'm working hard to get to know it and really starting to love it.

The hours before the programme seem to fly by - suddenly it's five o'clock and I manage to sit down with producer Claire to run through the football chat. Fortunately our small but hard-working team has written most of the scripts, but clearly I need to read through everything so I am fully across the brief. We have a short discussion about whether was in team. I'm convinced he'd retired before then. I'm wrong. Sorry Claire - and Martin of course.

I write the links for the show's opening (the bit with audio clips over the 5 live Sport theme), and then it's time to go down to the Drive studio to talk to Peter and Aasmah about the show. You'll always find Peter in a good mood if have had a good week.

At 7pm we're on air, and into our discussion about Spurs and Arsenal. Shaun Custis (chief football writer for ) is in the studio - he's had the dream ticket this week, San Siro on Tuesday and Emirates on Wednesday.

Simon Brotherton and are in the Czech Republic - it's a bitterly cold night, although I'd always rather be out at a live event, on this occasion I'm not sorry to be in the warmth of Studio S6.

As we build up to kick off, we're reflecting on the surprising fact that has never managed in Europe before - it's because of the ban on English clubs following the . Mark was playing for Liverpool then, and he starts telling us about the trauma of that terrible night. He was injured early on in the game, and found himself being taken off to the same hospital as the victims of the disaster. When he woke up, he had an armed guard at the end of his bed - to protect him from fans. I've never heard him talk about it before, and he says the other players rarely discuss it either. It's a moving and somber moment.

Almost inevitably, the match doesn't live up to the expectations - Liverpool doesn't exactly threaten the Prague goal, and according to Lawro, is their most attacking player. I can hear the chill seeping into the commentators' bones as the night wears on. The most exciting moment is when someone lets off a smoke flare behind one of the goals and the pitch is temporarily shrouded in murk.

Roddy Forsyth is at where at least here there are goals. score, but then disappointingly get an equaliser.

It's not been a thriller of a night on the pitch, but opening the phone lines for the final half hour, the Liverpool fans don't seem to mind. They've got away all square from the away leg and are confident that, with back, it'll be a different story at .

If Tuesday and Wednesday were the feast, we definitely had the famine in football terms. But hey - getting paid to talk sport and watch football all night? Hardly a hardship, is it?

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