Messi heads to Milan for Inter clash 

Broken arm or no broken arm, Barcelona is doing everything it can to have Lionel Messi at its disposal for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Inter. That's just one week after Messi missed El Clasico, and two after the fracture took place.

And it's easy to see why there is such haste from the Camp Nou club.  

Barca came just minutes from losing to Rayo Vallecano at the weekend in La Liga. Inter is on a run of seven straight wins in Serie A, topped off by Saturday's 5-0 squishing of Genoa. And Luis Suarez is probably quite worn out after three games in a row of having to score goals. 

Despite being one week away from the expected return date for Messi, the Argentinean boarded the plane to Milan today, although a late decision will be made on whether the player is into playing Inter tomorrow.   

The XTRA with Kevin Egan is the place to be at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for all the latest Champions League news and predictions. That is followed directly by the hottest soccer takes in the Locker Room. 

Realpolitik forces Liverpool to leave Shaqiri at home for Red Star clash

Elsewhere in the Champions League, and international politics has once again influenced the selection policies of increasingly multi-skilled managers. 

Jurgen Klopp has left Xherdan Shaqiri out of the squad that has travelled to Serbia to take on Red Star Belgrade in Tuesday's Group C game. 

Although Shaqiri is technically Swiss, the midfielder is an ethnic Kosovan from Albania and so has quite the 'complicated' relationship with all things Serb. Klopp said that the club wants to be "free from distractions" for the game. A victory for Liverpool could all but secure a spot in the next round for the English side. 

In October, Arsenal boss Unai Emery, made a similar decision to leave out Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan for a Europa League encounter against Azerbaijan side Qarabag. 

Cristiano Ronaldo eyes Wayne Rooney reunion 

TRANSFER TRACKER TIME! 

Cristiano Ronaldo has hinted that he might play alongside Wayne Rooney again. The Portuguese poacher has been happily praising the DC United man (and temporary England player), looking back at their Manchester United days and said that "maybe one day we'll play together again." Sports Burst will take that as a fully-fledged rumor. 

Not so sure about Martin Montoya claiming that Neymar wants a return to Barcelona. The Brazilian's former teammate had previously stated that Neymar wanted out, but admitted that reality is biting in the wrong direction for the PSG man. 

Real Madrid may still have no full-time coach, but that hasn't stopped Florentino Perez doing some prep work in the transfer market. Don Balon is reporting that Marco Asensio will be offered as tempting morsel for Chelsea in a deal for Eden Hazard. 

Huddersfield looks for maiden win as Espanyol eye second spot 

Before heading off into another fine day - and turning into human form for the Sports Burst live show at 12PM ET / 9AM PT with Gabrielle Amado and Ray Hudson on the beIN SPORTS Facebook page - there are a couple of Monday matches to majestically sweep past. 

Huddersfield is currently Norma No-mates in the English Premier League as the only club after 11 games without a single win. 

A fine chance to remedy that situation arrives today with a home clash against also struggling Fulham, a promoted team that spent in the region of $100 million over the summer with only one of the worst defenses in the history of the league to show for it. 

In La Liga, Espanyol has the rather remarkable opportunity to clamber into second spot. All that is needed is a victory over an Athletic Bilbao team that has just the single victory in 11 in the league this season. That clash is live on beIN SPORTS from 2:50PM ET / 11:50AM PT.