Steve Cram
BBC athletics commentator

"We all know about the gap Mo has on the other athletes in terms of personal bests, but also when it comes to the last lap there's no-one who can run that lap within three seconds of Mo's best. He's just playing with them here."

Mo Farah's team-mate Andy Vernon is still well set with five laps to go, settled in fifth.

He is a real Alf Tupper figure. Stocky and strong in contrast with Farah's lithe style.

If it does come down to a final 400m face-off then the main man who might contend with Mo Farah is France's tall, rangy Bouabdellah Tahri.

Right now though it looks like Farah is toying with the rest like a cat with a kill. He looks in total control. Six laps to go.

Image source, EPA

Someone is going to have to shake up the soda can because if this race continues like this, Mo Farah's kick is going to catch the rest of the field right in the chops.

There doesn't seem to be many willing candidates. Ali Kaya and Polat Kemboi Arikan, the two Turkish athletes, are parked on the front, but have not pushed the pace to test the depth of Farah's preparation.

Brendan Foster
European 5,000m champion in 1974 and BBC Sport athletics expert

"You'd bet that the second half will be quicker than 14.09 they passed the halfway point in. Mo looks great. He looks relaxed and content at this stage."

Through halfway in 14:09.54 and Mo Farah, with that deceptively long stride, is still trotting along in about third gear. He is looking very loose and comfortable.

Polat Kemboi Arikan's cheeky little dash off the front has been reeled in after 11 of 25 laps. He is back with the pack and whatever point he was trying to prove has come at the cost of some precious energy.

Great Britain's Andy Vernon is well set in seventh as the chaff in the field is strung out the back.

Brendan Foster
European 5,000m champion in 1974 and BBC Sport athletics expert

"If ever there was a chance to beat Mo Farah, then tonight's the night to take him on. There are medals available here tonight. You don't have to be a world-beater to get one, you might have to be a world-beater to beat Mo though."

Image source, AP

The defending champion is Turkey's Polat Kemboi Arikan and the first 3,000m have been marked by a bit of jousting between him and Mo Farah.

Farah came from the back of the pack to shoot significant looks at Arikan at the front. Arikan responded by going hard off the front and opens up a gap of five seconds or so. Farah is tucked in in third keeping a watchful eye behind Arikan's team-mate Ali Kaya.

As Brendan Foster goes on to say, a fit and healthy Mo Farah would not be caused too much trouble by anyone in this field. We don't know if that is the version of Mo we are getting here though...

So who might give him some strife?

Belgium's Abdi Bashir is Somalia-born like Farah and leads the European rankings. He finished fourth in the last European Championships.

Italy's Danielle Meucci was third in 2010 and second two years ago. Can he take the final step up?

Dwain Chambers on BBC Two after qualifying for the final later: "So this is 16 years after my first European final? You're making me feel old. I'm glad I've got myself there.

"It's about trying to keep warm now, then coming out and producing. It's not going to be an easy task, I've just got to get out and do the best I can. They've given me a gold cover to keep warm. I hope they're not jumping the gun!

Brendan Foster
European 5,000m champion in 1974 and BBC Sport athletics expert

"Mo's taking it easy in the first few laps, just having a jog around, relaxing into it and getting rid of the nerves. He'll soon be letting them know he's here. He's had a traumatic couple of months."

Image source, AFP

Mo Farah pulls out the Mo-bot as his name is announced to the crowd, but it is a half-hearted effort. There is business to be done and medals to be won. He crouches for the gun and straight from the off has adopted his usual tactics of bouncing along at the back of the pack, getting his racing legs firing.

Paula Radcliffe
Marathon world record holder and BBC Sport athletics expert

"You can't expect your body to be at maximum health all the time with all the stresses you're putting through it. It doesn't mean Mo's purple patch is over, he got ill and has had to play catch-up after missing some training. He's dealt with the illness scare and now what he needs to do is to get out there and win some races."

2014 has been a little different.

Floored before and after finishing second in the New York half-marathon, well adrift of both the winner and the British record on his London Marathon debut and then absent from Glasgow 2014 following a bathroom collapse, rush to hospital and fears for his heart.

Farah has not run a 10,000m this year. Or represented Great Britain. Tonight he does both.

His country needs a trademark command performance. Almost as much as he does.

Image source, AP

Mo Farah had started to look bulletproof.

Challengers had taken pot shots at him over 5,000 and 10,000m at World Championships and Olympic Games, but none could stop the Briton's Scrooge McDuck-style gold gathering.

It seemed a strained Mo-bot muscle was the greatest danger to his dominance.

Image source, Getty Images

Mo Farah is going through some warm-up drills on the track, swaddled in a trackkie top. He gives a thumbs up to the crowd. It has been an up-and-down twelve months or so for the British living legend.

Raymond Nortey:, external Harry Aikines Aryeetey is back with a Big Bang!!!!! Go on son.

Steve Day:, external That's a sub 10 run in better conditions for Dasaolu, easy.

Image source, AFP

Germany's Lucas Jakubczyk denies Great Britain a sixth successive win on the track, but, had it been a final, it might have been Britannia ruling again. Dwain Chambers, two hundredths behind in 10.25, looked like he was keeping a little powder dry for the final.

That might be canny considering he is in the third and final semi-final with the least recovery time before the final.

A little mosaic in the crowd greets the arrival of Swiss main man Pascal Mancini on the blocks. He is in lane three. British champion Dwain Chambers is in five.