Sports Burst: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow For Pep Guardiola?
Pep's first final, no pole dance for James, and de Boer dumped by Inter. 5 achey bellies from the candy binge of sport.
By Tim Stannard
1) Pep Guardiola facing first 'final' for Man City
One of the many reasons Pep Guardiola left Barcelona back in 2012 - according to the Catalan coach anyway - was the rapid retreat his hairline suffered in four years, due to the relentless stress of the every day nonsense involved in managing the team. And this was arguably the best club side the world had ever seen.
Life at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga was a little bit more chilled to help stop the follicle rot, but the manic mayhem at Man City sees Pep's hair on the defense once again. Last week, it was the hassle of the Manchester derby, followed by a must-win match against West Brom in the Premier League to stop a six game run without a win.
On Tuesday, the world is watching once once again to see if his team can do better than the 4-0 defeat suffered a fortnight ago against Barcelona in the Champions League. "It's a final," admitted Pep on a game that could cause some qualification issues for the next round should it be lost.
2) Arsenal and PSG with chance to seal Champions League deal
Elsewhere in the Champions League, Arsenal and PSG have the chance to wrap up qualification out of Group A with victories against Ludogorets and Basle respectively. "It's our prime target to win the group," promised Arsene Wenger ahead of the game.
A win away at Besiktas for Napoli would go a long way to making Group B a little comfier for the Serie A side. The imperious Atletico Madrid are looking - and will probably get - four wins from four with a home clash against Rostov.
Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for a highlights-heavy bonanza edition of the show.
3) James left behind by Madrid for key Champions League clash
Real Madrid are traveling to Poland for a game against Legia Warsaw that will have Getafe flashbacks in that it will take place without any fans in the ground. UEFA imposed a supporters ban after trouble during the visit of Borussia Dortmund in an earlier group clash with Borussia Dortmund.
The big loser already from the encounter - aside from Legia Warsaw's bank account - is James Rodriguez who is being left behind in the Spanish capital for the game, after not seeing a minute of action over the weekend against Alaves.
4) De Boer dumped by Inter after damaging defeat
Well, that didn't last long. Just five days after being given a vote of confidence by Inter's board at a meeting on Friday, Frank de Boer has been fired the Italian club on Tuesday in a morning of much confusion in Italy.
The decision came two days after a loss to Sampdoria to leave Inter with four defeats from the past five Serie A games and 12th in the table. Former Lazio boss, Stefano Pioli, is expected to be taking over on a permanent basis with youth team coach, Stefano Vecchi, in charge for Inter’s Europa League clash with Southampton on Thursday.
5) Almandin wins multi-million dollar prize in Melbourne Cup mayhem
It may seem too chilly for horse racing up on this part of the planet. But not Down Under in Australia, where the world's richest two-mile handicap, the Melbourne Cup, has been run.
The 156th edition of the race has a prize of $2.75m was won by Almandin ridden by Australian jockey, Kerrin McEvoy. The event was also an excuse for a bit of a party it seems.
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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.