By Tim Stannard

1) Barca face ‘boring’ accusations after Stamford Bridge battle

Barcelona may have expected plaudits after Tuesday’s handy 1-1 draw against Chelsea which very much puts the La Liga leaders in the driving seat of the Champions League tie and sipping a latte. However, the reaction from some in the all-important sphere of social media has been ‘meh’.

And that’s not surprising as the team well-used to dazzling the world with its football stylings achieved the impossible by making Chelsea looking positively watchable in comparison. “Surrounded in their own sterility,” sighed Sport, who still applauded the team’s opportunistic ability to pounce on a single Chelsea mistake to bag the win.

The other big question is what exactly is going on with Ousmane Dembele who was an unused substitute at Stamford Bridge in a clash when a bit of voom and verve was needed and where Philippe Coutinho was not required. And that is perhaps at the crux of the conundrum of a team that has only lost the single game in all competitions this season, but is gaining the reputation of being a rich-man’s Atletico Madrid.

Hear the thoughts of Christian Vieri on whether Barca have a duty to entertain as well as win on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

2) Another Pogba puzzle for Jose Mourinho

Speaking of expensively-assembled teams that give paint-drying a run for its money in the watchable stakes: Manchester United are in action in the Champions League in a trip to the Sanchez Pizjuan. Hats in the air!

And remarkably, a team that contains Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, Romalu Lukaku and Juan Mata might well labor to a victory against a Sevilla side recently beaten 5-1 by Eibar. 5-1! Such is the apparent defense-first tactics of Jose Mourinho who is still receiving criticism over his plan to turn Pogba into a centerback.

That game is live on beIN SPORTS Canada at 2:45PM ET / 11:45AM PT. The other Champions League Last 16 game of the day is a curious affair which sees Serie A side Roma heading east to take on Ukrainian outfit, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Catch the best of the action on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

3) Real Madrid look to leave defensive doldrums in make-up match

Real Madrid have the chance on Wednesday to close the gap on Barcelona at the top of the table to a more respectable 14-points and ease into that coveted third sport. All Coach Zizou’s men have to do is overcome city rivals, Leganes, the side that ejected Real Madrid from the Copa del Rey back in the day.

However, Zidane is entrusting the so-called B-teamers with the job – largely fully-fledged, experienced internationals in their own right to be fair – after leaving Keylor Navas and Cristiano Ronaldo out of the squad-list that was announced on Wednesday morning.

The team is also missing the injured cluster of Marcelo, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos who are all out of action with injury. The main objective for Madrid – aside from winning – is to manage a clean sheet after the team’s recent Oprah-esque policy of “you have a goal! You have a goal!” having conceded seven in the past three league games.

beIN SPORTS has got you covered at 12:35PM ET / 9:35AM PT with live coverage of Leganes against Real Madrid.

4) Vonn-derful Lindsey back on the Olympics podium

After breaking pretty much every bone in her body, Lindsey Vonn has revealed that these Winter Olympics might well be her last admitting after bagging a bronze medal in the women’s downhill that “my body just probably can’t take another for years.” In getting onto the podium, the 33-year-old became the oldest female medalist in Alpine skiing at the Winter Games.

However, there was gold to behold in them there frozen hills in South Korea with the Kikkan Randall, Jessica Diggins of the US winning the women’s team spring classic in the cross-country skiing. Take that Norway! And well done to Brady Leman of Canada who won the Men’s Ski Cross event, one of the maddest sporting events ever seen.

In other news, a group of plucky skaters that the NHL permitted to represent the USA in the hockey were knocked out at the quarterfinal stages by the Czech Republic.

WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?

The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. Sports Burst 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.