at the morning papers — with nicole bartlett from the mirror and jo tanner, a political strategist. that's all ahead on bbc news. the cost is being counted after last night's devastating fire in notre dame cathedral, but officials say it could have been much worse. around 20 firefighters risked their lives to save the cathedral from total destruction. we now know that a lot of artefacts have been saved which is remarkable, given the pictures we saw earlier.

for about half an hour, the whole edifice had been at risk of tumbling. prosecutors say the blaze was an accident, as french billionaires and companies pledge around 600 million euros to restore the popular building. we can now speak to the dean of coventry cathedral reverend john witcombe. the cathedral faced its own rebuilding project when it was bombed and badly damaged in the war. what lessons are there here in the ukfor what lessons are there here in the uk for those in france grappling with this phenomenal challenge ahead to try to restore notre dame to its full glory? thank you very much for joining us. first of all, just your thoughts on what has happened in the last 24—hour is in paris. thoughts on what has happened in the last 24-hour is in paris. it is obviously absolutely devastating for the people in paris. it will feel to them as it did in coventry as if the heart of their city has been taken from them. such an iconic building. to see it go up in flames is almost

the worst that you could possibly imagine, so our hearts completely go out to them, watching those images. it is like watching images from our own history back in 1940. we are just looking at pictures of one statue being lowered. it must be a phenomenally complex operation because these are of course old, precious statues, that have stood there for a long time and one can only imagine the thought and care thatis only imagine the thought and care that is going into trying to retrieve everything safely out of notre dame. when we think about the lessons that can be learned from cathedrals in the uk, because a number have faced damage, including yours at coventry, what was the solution, talk me through that? coventry, the existing building remains and a new building was built alongside. why was the old one not restored after it was initially bombed? it is a really good question and it was quite controversial at

the time. but it seemed to the people responsible for the cathedral and the city that at a time when the whole country was seeking to move forward , whole country was seeking to move forward, of course, nothing really could be done for five years from the destruction of this cathedral until the end of the second world war. that it would be right to hold the ruins as a sign, as a reminder of the destruction of war, actually, of the destruction of war, actually, of course, as a sign of crucifixion, rather than replace them or simply rebuild, to put a new building alongside, a sign of resurrection in the christian faith but also a sign of hope for a new city seeking to ready itself for a new era. 0ur of hope for a new city seeking to ready itself for a new era. our main message to the people of notre dame and of paris is to keep faith, that there will be new life, they will be rebuilding and of course the pledges of money support that. but also actually not to make two hasty decisions because the decision to

build something quite different here which was rightful coventry, i doubt they will do this in paris, but it was 22 years before the consecration of the new building after the destruction of the old and what we have here now is a unique symbol actually in the world of a destroyed building and a new building right next to it. i gather that there have been prayers held in the old building in coventry, is that happening today? has it happened already? yes, we gathered there at five o'clock this evening and we had prayers, of course, in french and english. we are very fortunate to have a french priest on the staff of the cathedral as well, so he was able to help us to identify with the people of paris but also to lead as in prayers in french, which is such a significant sign of solidarity. we gathered there in our own cathedral, in the ruins, to acknowledge the presence of a god who is not

defeated by these things. 0ur faith is not in buildings, ultimately, it is not in buildings, ultimately, it is in god himself and so, it feels as if we have lost something so profound, but actually we know there isa profound, but actually we know there is a future to look forward to. and when you look at the choices ahead for those who are going to try and reconstruct notre dame, for example, the debate around whether you try to simply copy what was there before and of course there has been previous reconstruction in parts of the cathedral in paris, or whether for example you try to use more contemporary materials, fire safe materials, all that is subject to a lot of debate, isn't it? and who should decide how that process should decide how that process should be decided? there is a lot of different subjects in that. and these decisions are best made on the whole by a collaboration of a city and cathedral working together. one of the most recent examples where they have had to work so hard on that of courses in the of christchurch in new zealand, which

has been in the news so poignantly recently where the cathedral was lost through an earthquake and in the end the city and church authorities had to come to an agreement on how best to move forward. not everybody sees these things in the same way. what we would want to say to the people of pharisees yes you have to use the best contemporary materials but i suspect in notre dame, they are going to want to do something that really helps the cathedral to rise again ina really helps the cathedral to rise again in a way that is clearly recognisable to those who knew it of old, likely did for example in dresden, where the cathedral was built in very much the same style but if you look carefully, they have recorded some evidence of the destruction that was experienced there. and just in terms of bringing it back to coventry, tell me how both cathedrals there coexist and what is the relationship between

them? well, we tend to talk about one cathedral actually. the medieval cathedral is open to the sky, it is an extraordinary building, very, very poignant indeed. but then you walk straight out of the cathedral, down the steps, and through a huge glass screen, directly into the new cathedral, they are linked by a majestic porch, so as i have the privilege very often of taking people around the cathedral, we a lwa ys people around the cathedral, we always start in the destruction of the old cathedral, we pause in their and ponder and reflect on the destruction that surrounds us in the world and of course paris has known that poignantly and terribly in recent yea rs, that poignantly and terribly in recent years, they have had such a difficult time, but then, from the ruins of the old cathedral, you can see into the hope represented by the new cathedral, with great treasures of 20th—century art, very familiar to many people in this country. and from the new cathedral you can see through the great glass wall which forms the whole rear wall of the

cathedral, a huge pain of glass, and whenever you cathedral, a huge pain of glass, and whenever you are cathedral, a huge pain of glass, and whenever you are any new cathedral, you can look straight out into the ruins of the whole site speaks of destruction and rebirth, of crucifixion and resurrection and thatis crucifixion and resurrection and that is why it says —— it is such a powerful site. thank you so much for joining us today. now on bbc news, it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. king of the comeback — 0le gunnar solsjkaer needs another champions league miracle as united travel to the nou camp. iam in i am in barcelona and manchester united fans are confident of pulling

offa united fans are confident of pulling off a shock tonight. manchester city face spurs twice and pep guardiola urges fans to create an atmosphere. the rfu has their say on billy vunipola's online conduct, as the england star gets an official warning. good evening. welcome to sportsday and on another action packed evening, when the first two champions league quarterfinals will be settled once and for all. for manchester united, the tough task of overturning a 1—0 defecit in their second leg against barcelona, at a stadium where both they and their manager have a whole lot of hstory. let's go to the camp nou now and our correspondent, natalie porks.

huge pressure on manchester united tonight, coming from behind but barcelona has got to be a test task. yes, like you said, they have to make history again because they have never beaten them here and barcelona are on a 30 match unbeaten run in europe, the longest of any side in europe. you have to go back to 1985, the first —— the time they won the first leg away from home in gloucestershire. the fans i have been speaking to today are confidential stop —— and lost here. manchester united are playing better away from home. they made history in paris in the last round. they were dead and buried. and thanks to some late goals, they pick themselves up and got through to this point. those

fa ns and got through to this point. those fans are confident. barcelona are flying in the league. they were able to rest their entire team by the keeper on saturday. manchester united did not have thatjoy against west ham. a very different prospect tonight. but united have to take a deep breath and take their chances. the fans are confident. talking about the history, when we talk about history, everyone has been talking about 0lic and a solskjaer and reflecting on that goal 20 years ago. he will be looking to make history again. yes, it will be a special night for him. 20 years ago almost to the day that he scored that late matchwinner against bayern munich to help manchester united land the treble. until he was here last night with a team, he had not stepped foot on the

pitch since that night. it will be big for him. wherever you go, fans are talking about that game because they believe it is fake. solskjaer did 20 years ago, with the number 20 on his back —— they believe it is fate. the odds are certainly against manchester united. but never write them off. it's the goal that defines 0le gunnar solskjaer‘s career. he made 366 appearances for manchester united but there's one image that comes to mind. his 1999 champions league final—winning goal in the nou camp for united against bayern munich to complete an historic treble. so how does he feel returning to the same pitch for the first time 20 years later as unted manager?

that goal has been mentioned atrial terms, yes, —— a field times. so if you have come up to me and to talk to me about that night, the best night of their lives. i can't really remember my feelings and emotions, but i have seen the goal so many times. i have seen it in the background, when the fanfare comes on, it is always there. i have never seen the full game. i have seen the 15 minutes that i played once but that goal, i have seen a million times. we had young boys coming through together, they had the best habits, it was workrate, coming in on time, it was going into the gym and doing all the extras, that can give you those little percentages that were when you games because they are things that are easy to do but very easy not to do. if you want

to win, if you want to play at manchester united, you have to have a personality and you have to be able to stand up for yourself against the big boys. we are going to play against top players in the world and you cannot look around and a lwa ys world and you cannot look around and always ask for help, you have to sometimes step up, we all have to step up and have that moment, that was your moment. elsewhere, it's juventus against ajax, who are looking to reach their first champions league semi final in 22 years. they held the italian giants to a 1—1 draw in the first leg. patrick gearey reports. this is european football boss of yes workshop. ajax training ground isa yes workshop. ajax training ground is a conveyor belt, building footballers and shipping them out across the world. 0nly occasionally do they get to harvest their potential themselves. this season they began the champions league in a

second qualifying round and progress through the group stage alongside bayern munich and stormed real madrid. that my trancelike a revolution. —— that felt like a revolution. —— that felt like a revolution full. it isa revolution full. it is a matter of bravery. they are favourites and we know we have to score here. we know that we have to ove rco m e score here. we know that we have to overcome another limit. that is very clear to all of us. but last week in amsterdam, we clearly demonstrated that we can play well. we can definitely do very well. ajax will always come under yohan christ's gaze. he was the star he returned as coach in the 1980s and his velocity was followed by louis van gaal, who led them to another european cup in 1985.

and many were starting to talking football and ajax became more known for trading with the world than taking it on. until this season, a new approach saw them by more experienced players to work alongside younger talent. what has made a difference in europe with all the financial strength of all the other big clubs is that ajax have broken their own ceiling of wages to try and hold onto a bit of talent, just that little bit longer, to gain success, to be a force in europe. and now the road leads to northern italy to face a juventus tea m northern italy to face a juventus team packed with experience and excellence. that's tonight's semifinals.

tomorrow though it will be the turn of liverpool, who travel to portugal with a 2—0 lead over porto and manchester city take on tottenham for their first of two meetings this week. a busy few days then for pep guardiola's side. lets get more from our correspondent katie gornall, who's at the etihad. theirfans their fans have been told they have to bring the atmosphere. they are going to be wanting pep guardiola to bring the titles. exactly. if you think back to list —— this time last season, they had already wrapped up the title but it has been more of a battle this season. they are still chasing that quadruple and this week could be a decisive week in their season because as you said, they play spurs twice in the space of a few days. first tomorrow in the champions league, where they have to overturn a deficit from the first

leg and then in a few days, in the premier league, on saturday. pep guardiola described those games as finals. the good news for him is that his squad has almost a clean bill of health. they all trained today. both managers also gave press conferences today. we will hear from the spurs manager injust a minute but it was interesting what pep guardiola had to say about what he expects the atmosphere to be like tomorrow. manchester city fans have a difficult relationship with the champions league. pep guardiola said today he wants to see desire from the supporters as well as the players. there will be bad moments in the game and at those moments, we need those supporters. i am really curious how our fans will react tomorrow. i want to see if they want

tomorrow. i want to see if they want to get to the semifinal. not just the players, iwant to get to the semifinal. not just the players, i want to see my fans, ourfans, if the players, i want to see my fans, our fans, if they really want to get to the semifinals. manchester city is one of the best teams in the world and of course, it is clear they are looking to win the premier league in the champion league. for us to beat them in the first leg was an amazing result. but we know very well that the tie is still open and tomorrow is going to be very tough. it would be a huge achievement if spurs were able to beat manchester city over the two legs. we don't know if kelly ali is going to feature for spurs. he trained today and will be assessed after training today for but spurs are in a good

position. they have a clean sheet. they are in a good position and feeling positive. to the premier league now and while most of the focus is on the title race and the battle for champions league spots, at the other end of the table its become a straight shoot—out between two clubs who face each other this evening as brighton host cardiff. cardiff are third from bottom and in the relegation zone, five points behind brighton who are just a place higher. but look at the goal difference here. cardiff's goal difference is irretrievably worse than all the sides above them including brighton, although while this is a must win for cardiff tonight. for brighton this more of must not lose, considering what's still to come for them this season. in four days' time they face wolves, nine places above them in the league,

however they did beat them