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The setting is different.

The 1,800-seater Indigo, a side room to London’s O2 Arena, usually hosts concerts, comedy and podcast shows. On Friday, finalists from Indian Idol will play there. On Saturday, a George Michael tribute act has the floor.

On Thursday, it will be decked out with giant screens and hundreds of fans. The aim is to create something akin to the NFL draft or a Uefa draw, with tension, intrigue, a touch of speechifying and some social media moments.

Whatever the warm-up though, the headline act is the same as ever, unchanged for more than a century: a roll-call of the best rugby union players from Britain and Ireland.

The captain apart, no-one knows at this stage who will emerge from the coaches’ conclave. There are no tip-offs or advance warnings. The Lions’ class of 2025, who will play a three-Test series away to Australia this summer, hear their fate along with the rest of us.

We don’t even know how many Lions there will be either. Somewhere between 37 and 41 is the best guess.

That void of solid information is filled with speculation and conjecture: how will the team dynamics mesh, which players can deputise where, who is a coach’s favourite, styles, systems, conditions, and ultimately who is in and out?

Soon enough, there will be clarity.

Maro Itoje was set to be confirmed as the Lions captain on Thursday.

Ireland number eight Caelan Doris had been the other contender, but picked up a shoulder injury in Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Northampton this weekend, putting his touring hopes in danger.

Itoje may well have earned the accolade ahead of Doris regardless, but now the 30-year-old, who had not been either his club or country’s regular skipper until the start of this season, will be completing a captaincy clean sweep on his third Lions tour.

“I would agree with it going to Maro,” former England and British and Irish Lions scrum-half Matt Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“There are a couple of absolute fundamentals with Lions tour captains – first and foremost they have to be in the team and for me he is, without a shadow of a doubt.

“Secondly, he has to be held in that regard, not just by the coaches, but also by his team-mates as well. The players have to look at their captain and think ‘this guy is the man’.

“Thirdly, for Maro specifically, he has blossomed beautifully this season for England.

“He has gone from being a player who was a certainty to be in the team, but was a bit short of the form of his early 20s and a little bit too ill disciplined, to being right in the groove.

Finn Russell is the man in possession of the British and Irish Lions number 10 jersey.

Four years ago, he was ushered into the fray early in the deciding third Test against the Springboks and, although the tourists lost, Russell’s dexterity and daring stood out.

However, after a modest Six Nations campaign with Scotland and the appointment of Russell sceptic Johnny Sexton as one of the Lions coaches, doubt has been cast over whether the 30-year-old could even make the squad.

Former Ireland hooker and Scarlets coach Bernard Jackman believes Russell should be straight into the team.

“For me, Russell is the starting 10,” he told Scrum V.

“I think the stuff around Johnny joining the coaching staff – I think that will be done.

“The area Andy Farrell is most comfortable in coaching is attack.

“When you think of Ireland’s attack going into the last Rugby World Cup in 2023, it was so patterned and intricate. Someone with Russell’s instinct, with his passing, running and kicking game, could be unbelievably strong in that.

“I would be shocked if he wasn’t on the plane. I think it is the job of the coaches to set the team up to bring the best out of him because that would bring the best out of everybody else.”

Horgan agrees, adding that Russell’s Lions credentials have been proven.

“Given Scotland have won just one of their past 16 meetings against his Ireland team, it will be hard for Andy Farrell to eliminate some of the doubts he may have about some of their players,” he told BBC 5 Live.

“But, I don’t think that counts for Finn. If there was ever any doubts about Finn, they were blown out of the water by his performances on the tour in 2021.

Twenty-nine minutes into Northampton’s shock win against Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday, Henry Pollock took a short ball off Alex Mitchell, punched a hole and pinned back his ears.

The ease with which he rounded Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast to scorch in for a try set tongues wagging among those on the lookout for Lions.

“That must have been the worst performance Prendergast has had this season,” said 2009 British and Irish Lions winger Ugo Monye on Rugby Union Weekly.

“You can forgive missed kicks at goal, but there was a lack of control.

“He looked like he was the fly-half playing away, he couldn’t impose himself on the game.

“No-one missed more tackles in the Six Nations this year and, as well as being ruined by Henry Pollock, he looked non-committal in defence, making tap tackles.

“He will become such a focus for an attack.”

Former Wales and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert agreed, telling 5 Live: “I don’t think you can take Sam, as great as his attacking ability is at the line.

“His defence is a real liability and Australia coach Joe Schmidt will be clued into that.

“His tackle completion is way, way too low to be chosen.

“By contrast, I think Northampton fly-half Fin Smith played his way on to the plane.

Pollock began this season with just one Premiership appearance to his name. His precipitous climb towards the top shows no sign of stopping though.

The 20-year-old has scored more tries and beaten more defenders than any other forward in the Champions Cup this season. He has made more tackles and secured more turnovers than any other player full stop.

“Previously I thought maybe the Lions had come too soon for him,” said former England scrum-half Danny Care on Rugby Union Weekly.

“But watching that win over Leinster, how can you not take him?

“He looked better, in every aspect, than one of the best Ireland back rows ever.

“He is an 80-minute player. To be at that level mentally and physically, in a Test match level environment is superb.

“I like everything this kid is about.

“I’m not sure if he would start, but how good would he be for competition on that tour?

“Lob him into a midweek team and if you picked him for the Test side, he wouldn’t look out of place.”

Horgan takes the same view, saying: “Farrell can’t not pick him. Pollock was phenomenal at the weekend. It was as good a performance as I have seen in a long time.

Tomos Williams’ livewire performances for Gloucester and Wales have put him in contention for a scrum-half spot, although Scotland’s Ben White – who has a ready-made understanding with Russell – could trump him in the expected race to join Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park and England’s Alex Mitchell in the squad.

“My instinct says that Ben White would better fit the way that Andy Farrell would want to play and how the Lions could play,” said Dawson.

“And that connection with Finn Russell could be quite handy.

“However, it is a valid point that the Lions organisers will want to have a healthy Wales contingent and that might count against White. That factor might edge a toss-of-a-coin decision.”

Cuthbert said: “I would be very surprised if Tomos is not on that plane, given both his form and the type of bloke he would be in that environment.

Marcus Smith was called up for the last British and Lions tour while playing a summer international for England against Canada.

While halfway down Allianz Stadium’s tunnel, he was told by England support staff that he would be boarding a plane to South Africa, as well as a bus back to south London.

The 26-year-old seemed in prime position for a fly-half slot this time around after some virtuoso displays for England in the second half of 2024.

However, the emergence of namesake Fin and a positional shuffle to full-back during the Six Nations has made predicting Smith’s inclusion prospects for 2025 a lot harder.

Danny Care, who plays with Smith at Harlequins, backs him.

“Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn is likely to arrive late on the tour from Toulouse so it is a massive string to Marcus Smith’s bow being able to play 15,” Care said.

“If you have two big movers on the wings, be it James Lowe, Tommy Freeman or Duhan van der Merwe, you need someone who can link and create space for them.

“Marcus Smith is the best one-on-one attacker coming from the back. He has been for two or three years.

“Added to which I don’t think Andy Farrell will forget how well he played at 10 in the autumn. Some players have credit in the bank.”

Smith may still find that positional specialists are preferred to his versatility.

“For all his brilliance as a player, I don’t think Marcus Smith is in the top three for fly-halves who get the most out of their backline,” said Horgan.

“Finn Russell, Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast all get backlines motoring better and I don’t think you can have Marcus Smith as a starting full-back.

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal were the best team in the Champions League this season, despite losing their semi-final to Paris St-Germain.

The Gunners came into the Parc des Princes needing to overturn a 1-0 loss from the home first leg to book a place in the final against Inter Milan.

But while Arsenal created a number of good opportunities, they could not find a way past PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma until Bukayo Saka’s late strike. By then, goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi had put the French champions on their way to a 2-1 second-leg success, and 3-1 on aggregate.

“We were very close, much closer than the result showed, but unfortunately we are out,” said Arteta.

“I am very proud of the players, 100% I don’t think there’s been a better team [than Arsenal] in the competition from what I have seen, but we are out.

Having failed to reach a first Champions League final since 2006, the Arsenal boss revealed his players were in tears in the dressing room following the loss – and he was “upset and so annoyed” they not find a way to turn around the tie.

Asked whether he agreed with Arteta, PSG boss Luis Enrique said his own side deserved to reach the final.

“Mikel Arteta is a great friend, but I don’t agree at all,” he added. “They played in a clever way and they got the match to the right moment for them because they played in the way they wanted, and the way they love. But in the two legs we scored more than them and that is the most important thing in football.

The Gunners started superbly and, after Declan Rice headed wide from close range, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard forced Donnarumma into fine saves.

Saka also forced the PSG keeper into another excellent stop in the second half as Arsenal finished the match with an expected goal ratio of 3.14.

“When you analyse both games, who has been the best player? The MVP has been the same player, the goalkeeper.” added Arteta.

“And the Champions League is decided in the boxes and it’s won the game for them because obviously after 20 minutes, and what happened in London as well, the result should have been very different.

“So I can take a lot of positives and I’m very proud of the team. We have to arrive in the competition at this stage with the full squad, full available, in the best condition. We haven’t got that, so let’s put that aside.

“Still, the team that I’ve seen today is probably one of the best, if not the best team in Europe.

“It gives me so much pride, but at the same time I’m so upset, so annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it. I see how much they wanted it, because they were in tears. It hurts, but you have to deal with that.”

The defeat meant Arsenal will end the season without winning a trophy for the fourth season in a row, after Arteta led them to an FA Cup triumph in 2020 during his first season in charge.

They have also finished second in the Premier League for the last two seasons and the Spaniard was asked whether his players will struggle to get motivated to try again after another disappointment.

“With fear you cannot play football at the highest level. We had the best example in the [PSG] dressing room – Marquinhos, 11 times he’s tried in this club to be a winner, 11 times he’s the captain,” said Arteta.

“So that’s the truth and let’s see if they win it. So 11 times they have to go down and up.

Paris St-Germain’s pursuit of European glory has been a long one.

But with the club in a “special moment” following their 2-1 semi-final victory over Arsenal on Wednesday – 3-1 on aggregate – their dreams could finally become reality in Munich against Italian champions Inter Milan on 31 May.

The Champions League is the one trophy that has eluded the 13-time French champions, who reached the 2019-20 final but were beaten by Bayern Munich.

But under Luis Enrique, PSG have struck a balance between star quality, togetherness and hard work.

“PSG, out of all the Champions League teams I’ve seen this season, they’re in a special moment at this club,” said former England defender Matthew Upson on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“There’s a real feeling from me that this is going to be their time. A team that works incredibly hard for each other, they’ve got a speed and energy about them that is so hard to handle.

PSG might have lost five games on their way to the Champions League final, but they have found a way to win when it matters.

“They have gone to young, French players, the fans identify with these players. They are a proper team and deserve to be in the final,” said Owen Hargreaves on TNT Sports.

“Luis Enrique understands you cannot carry any players in the Champions League. Now they have captured the hearts of Paris fans and for the neutrals they are great to watch.”

Their semi-final victory is in no small part thanks to their dynamic full-backs – Achraf Hakimi, who was named man of the match in both legs and scored a stunning goal to make sure of PSG’s victory, and Nuno Mendes.

Their energy up and down the flanks always gave PSG options out wide in attack while their workrate to get back into defensive shape was equally impressive.

“They have come up against some of the best wingers in Europe and they have really stood tall, and they are not scared of having those duels, time and time again, or being isolated against them,” said former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.

“In terms of a full-back display in Europe this season, the stuff that they have been doing is as good as any pair in the competition.”

Gianluigi Donnarumma has also been a key figure with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta suggesting the Italian goalkeeper is the reason PSG have reached the final.

“Over the two legs, the best player on the pitch was their goalkeeper – he’s made a difference in the tie,” said the Gunners boss.

Questions around whether PSG would ever win a Champions League title intensified with the departures of Neymar and Lionel Messi in 2023 before Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid last year had many writing off the French side all together.

Instead, Mbappe will watch his former side contest the final against Inter after his current team were dumped out in the quarter-finals by Arsenal.

Luis Enrique has traded superstar status for a group of hard-working team players.

“For PSG they have no Neymar, no Messi, no Mbappe, all out the door, but now they are a complete side. I’ve not see forward players working so hard,” said Martin Keown on TNT Sports.

“How do you beat them? They have to be hot favourites to win this now.”

The Spaniard has brought the best out of his young side with a resurgent Ousmane Dembele involved in 12 Champions League goals this campaign – the most ever by a PSG player in the competition in one season – and Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia joining him in a thrilling front three.

Dembele was missing from the starting XI after picking up a hamstring injury in the first leg but Bradley Barcola has proved an effective understudy.

“This is a wonderful PSG team, with youth and a lot of energy and intensity,” said French football expert Julien Laurens on TNT Sports.

“In the front three – even without Dembele, which was a big blow for them – you see the fluidity and the energy they bring.

Mikel Arteta boldly announced Arsenal were in Paris to make history – but it was a recent history of falling short that haunted them as their Champions League campaign ended in failure.

Arsenal delivered a fine performance, but were ultimately unable to overcome Paris St-Germain, who have taken a wrecking ball to the Premier League’s elite in this tournament and now face Inter Milan in Munich in the final.

Arteta and his players were devastated as Parc des Princes exploded in pyrotechnics and deafening celebrations at the conclusion of PSG’s 2-1 win in this semi-final second leg.

Arsenal had gone the same way as Manchester City, Arsenal and Aston Villa when they faced Luis Enrique’s exciting, emerging PSG side earlier in the tournament.

And, beneath the surface, lies a very uncomfortable truth for Arteta and Arsenal.

Arsenal are now five years without a trophy, when Arteta led them to the FA Cup in 2020. For all the talk of process and progress, this is the only currency that matters for elite clubs, so time is ticking on Arteta to make his team winners again.

He is, for now, in charge of a nearly team. For all Arsenal’s excellence in the City Of Light, this darkness was the brutal reality.

No-one would seriously suggest for one moment Arteta’s job is under threat, but he is definitely under pressure to produce tangible success, which will ratchet up next season. Eventually there can be no excuses, or messages about moving forward. Arsenal need to win.

There is the basis for a top-class side with outstanding players such as Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, along with the youthful brilliance of Myles Lewis-Skelly – but top-class sides win trophies and, in that context, Arsenal have fallen short for five years.

Arsenal and Arteta’s hopes of history are now reduced to making sure they finish in the Premier League’s top five to ensure they are back in the Champions League next season.

It was a night of missed opportunities in a two-legged tie shaped by the first 20 minutes both at Emirates Stadium and here in Paris.

PSG went for Arsenal away from home and scored a decisive goal from Ousmane Dembele. The Gunners gave Luis Enrique’s side a taste of their own medicine in Paris but could not score.

PSG were chasing history of their own, as indicated by the giant tifo unfurled during the spectacular light and sound show before kick-off along the Virage Auteuil, where their Ultras gather,. It read: “55 years of memory behind you to write history”.

Goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi either side of half-time set the platform for victory, punishing Arsenal for the blunt instrument that is their attack. Saka eventually beat Donnarumma but it was all very little very late.

PSG can now chase that history in the shape of their first Champions League triumph, while Arsenal are left to ponder a fourth successive failure in a semi-final and a season that will be looked back on as an anti-climax.

For Arsenal, it is a case of what might have been and another season when Arteta’s team have been unable to bridge the elusive gap between also-rans and winners.

This was their 201st match in the Champions League, the most of any side who have failed to lift the trophy. And it was another semi-final defeat to set alongside those in the 2020-21 Europa League, 2021-22 EFL Cup, 2024-25 EFL Cup, and this exit here. It is their longest-ever run of exits at this stage.

Close but not close enough. Again.

Arsenal and England midfield man Declan Rice said: “We’re all desperate for it. That’s why we play football. We want to win trophies. We want to be at the pinnacle, winning stuff.

” For whatever reason, it hasn’t been meant to be. We’ve been really close and it’s not good enough.

“Arsenal deserve to be pushing for trophies and winning things but there’s not a lot more we can be doing. A lot of superstars have suffered defeats to come out on top. It hurts, you see the boys, the manager. We wanted to be in Munich but this doesn’t define us and we’ll be back”.

The task for Arteta now is to also prove he is a winner after a Premier League title pursuit that never got off the ground and the promise of the Champions League, including a superb win over holder Real Madrid in the quarter-final, coming to nothing.

In his pre-match news conference, Arteta bizarrely said: “Winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place. Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons. With the points of the past two seasons, we have two Premier Leagues”.

It was a flawed argument that conveniently ignored the fact Arsenal have been in the same place at the same time as Arne Slot’s newly crowned champions this season and did not deliver.

Arteta’s maths also failed to take into account Liverpool could yet surpass the 89 points Arsenal achieved last season, and tally of 84 in 2022-23.

Arteta talked of “fine margins” and will curse Donnarumma’s brilliance over two legs, but this is what matters at this rarified level.

Arsenal were also architects of their own downfall, with Thomas Partey’s poor headed clearance only finding an unmarked Ruiz for PSG’s first, then the same player losing possession for Hakimi’s second, which effectively finished them off.

Arsenal’s serious strategic failure in not signing a striker last summer was also a factor in their elimination. And this is not post-event wisdom – it was a thorny subject then.

Mikel Merino, pressed into service away from his usual midfield role, was tireless. But he only offered a focal point, not a serious threat.

How Arsenal cried out for a reliable marksman who might have made more capital of their early domination, when they gave Luis Enrique’s side a taste of their own medicine by pinning them back with fierce salvo of attacks.

As former Arsenal and England defender Matthew Upson put it on BBC Radio 5 Live: “When PSG break away, you always feel they are going to put the ball in the back of the net. Arsenal don’t have that level”.

Maro Itoje is set to be confirmed on Thursday as the British and Irish Lions captain for the tour of Australia.

The 30-year-old will become the first Englishman since Martin Johnson in 2001 to be named Lions captain, and will lead a party of around 40 players.

Itoje, who will tour with the Lions for the third time, took over the England captaincy before the 2025 Six Nations, leading them to second after four straight wins.

With Ireland skipper Caelan Doris having shoulder surgery this week, Itoje has emerged as the outstanding candidate for the role.

He will be confirmed formally in front of a live audience at the O2 Arena on Thursday afternoon, along with the rest of the Lions squad.

Itoje’s credentials have been endorsed by a string of former Lions, including three-times tourist Matt Dawson.

“Maro has blossomed beautifully this season for England”, Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He has gone from being a player who was a certainty to be in the team, but was a bit short of the form of his early 20s and a little bit too ill-disciplined, to being right in the groove.

” The captaincy has given him a new lease of life and he is ready to step into the role for the Lions. “

Itoje will be the only member of Andy Farrell’s touring party present at the announcement, with the rest of the squad finding out at the time.

Farrell’s team face Argentina in Dublin on Friday, 20 June, before their first game on Australian soil against Western Force on Saturday, 28 June.

Given Maro Itoje’s outstanding performances for his country for the best part of a decade, it was a surprise he had to wait until the age of 30 to assume the England captaincy.

But despite concerns from former boss Eddie Jones about his leadership credentials, Itoje excelled in the recent Six Nations, combining a cool and authoritative captaincy style with his usual high standard of play.

England’s strong finish to the Championship catapulted Itoje into the Lions captaincy conversation, especially with Ireland tailing away under Caelan Doris – the other exceptional candidate.

And with Doris unfortunately injured for Leinster last weekend – throwing into doubt his involvement in the tour – Itoje is the natural choice for Andy Farrell.

Crucially, Itoje has been there and done it. This will be his third Lions tour, which will help massively when it comes to leading a group shorn of Lions heavyweights.

Britain’s Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie won their first-round matches at the Italian Open as Katie Boulter failed to progress in Rome.

Raducanu, making her first appearance at the tournament after a three-year absence, had to dig deep to win 7-5 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 against Australian Maya Joint.

The British number two felt the level of the match was “really high” and said: “I’m really proud of myself as well because that was a great performance, I think, on all fronts.”

Norrie booked his second-round place with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over Christopher O’Connell.

Meanwhile, 28-year-old Boulter lost 3-6 3-6 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

After taking a tight first set, Raducanu was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second when a resurgent Joint fought back and was able to take the former US Open champion to a tie-break, which the 19-year-old breezed through 7-1.

Raducanu then had to regroup for the deciding set and raced into a 5-0 lead, only to be pegged back again by Joint who won the next three games. She finally closed out the set on serve after two hours and 44 minutes.

During a bathroom break after the second set, Raducanu used the thought of losing the match to fuel her motivation going into the decider.

“That was pretty powerful and strong,” added the 22-year-old.

Raducanu returned to action in April after taking a month-long break from competitive tennis. She made it through to the second round at the Madrid Open two weeks ago but fell to a straight-set defeat by Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

In the men’s competition, British number three Norrie was defeated by Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the qualifying round on Tuesday, but he received a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser.

The 29-year-old dropped just five games against O’Connell in a 76-minute match and told Sky Sports he channelled his anger into overcoming the Australian following his disappointing performance against Lajovic.

“I was sharp, I didn’t give him much and I played some physical tennis,” said Norrie. “I was just really happy I turned that energy around.”