By Tim Stannard

1) Ramos - Ronaldo in the wrong and Neymar welcome 

At face value, Sergio Ramos was merely revealing that he slightly disagreed with Cristiano Ronaldo as to the impact of players such as James Rodriguez, Pepe and Alvaro Morata leaving over the summer, with CR7 musing that youth has replaced experience at Real Madrid, currently to the detriment of the performance of the side. 

But the media world is a cutthroat business and Sports Burst is all for throwing a can of tuna fish into a tank of starving piranha when it comes to clickbait fisticuffs. 

This sees the comments from the Spanish international as Ramos SLAMMING his Real Madrid teammate and CALLING OUT Cristiano Ronaldo for being a NEGATIVE influence in the team. BOOM!

"I think it's an opportunist opinion,” yelled Ramos (quietly) to Spanish radio on Wednesday night. “When we won two Super Cups [UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de Espana], nobody missed anyone.” Ramos also went onto to DISRUPT PSG by saying that Neymar would be welcome at Real Madrid anytime, should he grow tired of Unai Emery’s video sessions. 

Sergio Ramos is currently on duty with Spain who have friendlies against Costa Rica and Russia, whilst Cristiano Ronaldo is with Real Madrid standing in front of a goal until the sun sets each day refocusing his chi, Iron Fist-style. And branding one of his children.

2) Morata reveals Zizou pushed for Stamford Bridge swap

Speaking of all things Real Madrid, Alvaro Morata has revealed that it was Coach Zizou himself who suggested that the striker leave Real Madrid last summer to find pastures new in England…a quite selfless act that might well lead to the Frenchman’s ultimate downfall, unless results perk up sharpish. 

“He said to me 'Alvaro, I know that you want to play and have consistency and I think it would be logical for you to go',” sighed the Chelsea man who has scored seven league goals so far, this season, two more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Borja Mayoral combined. 

3) World Cup qualifying play off party begins

After three days of football fans rocking backwards and forwards on a mattress, the beautiful game is back with a bang on Thursday with some tension-fueled World Cup qualifying play-offs. Europe leads the way with the first two of four play-off pairings for the final spots to Russia. 

Northern Ireland are continuing a bid to qualify for the finals for the first time since 1986 but standing in the way are Switzerland, a solid outfit that has only lost the single World Cup qualifying match since 2008. The first leg kicks off at Windsor Park, Belfast.

The sprightly side of Croatia with Luka Modric in tow will be trying to battle back against Greece, a team that will forever be branded as boring since their 2004 European Championship win, even if they played 10 forwards and a goalie. Juventus striker, Mario Mandzukic is a doubt for the home side with a hamstring strain. 

Catch the highlights on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT which also looks ahead at Italy huge play-off clash against Sweden on Friday. 

4) NFL set for more off the field antics in lawsuit report 

The NFL has yet more off the field trouble to deal with in what has already been a tumultuous season. 

Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, has reportedly hired a lawyer and is looking at suing the NFL to block the contract extension of commissioner Roger Goodell, over the suspension of Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot and also the handling of the kneeling situation during the national anthem. It’s a Texas thing, basically.

Meanwhile, another controversial matter steams into view – Thursday night football. The two teams who are set to be grumbling about playing just four days after the last game are the Seattle Seahawks who are at the Arizona Cardinals. “Game day in the desert” yell the Seahawks. 

In the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers are at the Houston Rockets. 

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. 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.