By Tim Stannard

1) Madrid head to Cyprus for Champions League tonic 

 If Sports Burst ruled the world football – it will one day – then it would make Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid return to the Wanda on Monday and do the whole derby thing again. Properly. 

The two big results out of the goalless clash on Saturday in Spain’s capital city were that both teams are now 10 points behind Barcelona in the league table, and Sergio Ramos is now set for a spell on the sidelines for 10 days trying to unflatten a broken nose suffered in Saturday’s testy clash, which had more fouls than fantastic football.

The Madrid defender will be waving off his struggling teammates as they head to Cyprus for Tuesday’s Champions League clash against APOEL, a game that Madrid really need to win to avoid any last matchday clamminess in Group H to really see the La Liga and Champions League holder’s season implode like…the nose of Sergio Ramos really. 

Coach Zizou will be speaking later on Monday and no doubt answering questions on whether he faces the sack, why Ronaldo can score in the Champions and not La Liga and if it should be made illegal in the US for people to put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. 

Tune into the Locker Room with Kay Murray and the gang when they will look into whether La Liga is done and dusted for Real Madrid. From 7:30PM ET / 4:30AM PT. 

2) Italy’s World Cup cull continues as president steps down

There will be a slight hint of smile on the faces of fans of the Italian national team, a whole week after the country’s unfortunate failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The gentleman behind all things Italian football has stepped down as President of the country’s football federation - Carlo Tavecchio.

The 74-year-old announced his decision at a meeting on Monday. “I’m leaving because I failed. I apologise to all Italians,” sighed Tavecchio who now leaves the Italian game looking for both a new leader and head coach. Antonio Conte is the latest name to be thrown into the pot, in what would be a surprise return to the job, especially as he has a perfectly good one at Chelsea, albeit London traffic seems to be getting him down.  

Serie A wraps up on Monday with Hellas Verona looking to reboot a disastrous season so far with a home clash against Bologna. That game is live on beIN SPORTS 3 from 2:30PM ET / 11:30AM PT. Highlights on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT. 

3) WBA make headlines for first time ever with Pulis sacking 

Even the most ardent West Bromwich Albion fans sometimes forget that West Bromwich Albion actually exists, such is the Premier League club’s general ‘meh’-ness in the football firmament. 

But WBA have made the news on Monday with the sacking of the very old skool, Tony Pulis after a run of just three league wins since February. WBA are currently hovering about the relegation zone.

It’s a bad day for Westies in general with West Ham supporters, those with less of a grip on reality than most, calling England’s equivalent of 911 to complain after the team’s loss to Watford on Sunday. 

The final round of Premier League action takes place Monday afternoon with the very surprise packages of Brighton taking on Stoke. Highlights on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT…of course. 

4) Cowboys ride off into sunset, chased by fans 

Tumultuous times for the Dallas Cowboys continued on Sunday night deep in the heart of Texas. Owner Jerry Jones is embroiled in a territorial battle with the NFL organization while the team were slammed 37-9 by the Philadelphia Eagles, who have all but wrapped up the NFC East. Apparently, much of America particularly enjoyed this result. 

Monday night’s NFL clash sees the Seattle Seahawks hosting the Atlanta Falcons in a booming, heavyweight contest. 

Nuggets, Grizzlies, Magic and some Jazz all feature in what sounds like a NBC Christmas musical special starring Kelly Clarkson, but instead, it’s the NBA schedule for Monday. 

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.