By Tim Stannard 

1) Atletico’s Qarabag handler as Valverde faces reunion

Well, Wednesday, whatcha got to bring to the table? Or something cool like that. 

Tuesday’s Champions League clashes did not fail to deliver in terms of drama, especially in a dynamic clash between Manchester City and Napoli and Real Madrid and Tottenham going toe-to-toe. However, there could be an early start to a midweek kerfuffle with Atletico Madrid kicking off at midday ET against Qarabag in a match that Diego Simeone’s men really need to win to avoid slipping out of the competition at the first hurdle.

The big advantage for Atleti? The club’s jersey recently displayed the lovely logo ‘Azerbaijan, Land of Fire’. And Qarabag is in Azerbaijan. Atleti will take any kind of omen these days.  

La Liga’s other team in the Champions League is Barcelona at home to Greek side, Olympiakos, with a victory for the Camp Nou team all but putting Barca into the knockout stages. The curiosity? Ernesto Valverde up against a club he used to manage. Twice. Will it be a feta accompli?

2) Reborn Bayern look for sensational night against Celtic

The most esteemed beIN SPORTS Canada viewers can catch a rebuilt Bayern Munich potentially rattling a hatful of goals against Celtic in a Champions League clash – live from 2:40PM ET / 11:40AM PT while Manchester United’s away match-up against Benfica is on CONNECT 3. It’s another managerial reunion for that game with Jose Mourinho taking on a team he briefly coached back in 2000.

Elsewhere, Chelsea are looking to recover from back-to-back losses in the Premier League with a hearty win over visiting Roma, a clash that will be particularly important to the very Italian, Antonio Conte should any of his players consider slacking off. Juventus are at home to Portugal’s Sporting. 

Tune into the XTRA at the special time of 9PM ET / 6PM PT for all the best action and analysis from Mr Christian Vieri himself. 

3) Rumors increase of Kaka return to San Siro

Matters might be so desperate at Milan that the clock could be turned back nearly ten years for inspiration. 

Kaka is on the brink of playing for his final match for Orlando City after a three-year stint in MLS. While a return to Brazil or even retirement are mooted possibilities as a next move, the concept of Kaka returning to Milan, a club the forward left in 2009 is out there in cyberspace.

Former Milan teammate, Nigel de Jong, gave credence to a story of a six-month Milan move for Kaka, before the player takes an executive role at the San Siro side, by using red and black emojis in a post to the player. Apparently, that is as good as 100% solid story of a transfer these days. 

Meanwhile, Milan coach Vincenzo Montella has been speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash with AEK Athens, telling impatient fans to take a chill pill in terms of the club’s form.  “It’ll come, right now we need a flame, and we have to be good to spark it.

4) High drama in NBA return as Warriors lose opener 

The first night of the NBA regular season made headlines of the most unfortunate kind with Gordon Hayward suffering a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia whilst jumping for a ball just five minutes into the forward’s debut with the Boston Celtics. After a lengthy pause to the game the Cleveland Cavaliers went on to win 102-99. 

There was a shock on Wednesday’s other clash with the NBA champions Golden State Warriors falling 122-121 after a potential match-winning buzzer-beater by Kevin Durant was ruled out after it was shown that the ball had not left the players fingertips in time. The action continues on Wednesday night. Less injuries hopefully.

Meanwhile, NFL franchise owners and players met on Tuesday for what is being described as ‘fruitful’ chats over protesting during the national anthem. So, that probably means someone high up somewhere is going to be back on Twitter after a round of golf on Sunday. 

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The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.