By Tim Stannard

1) Speculation that Zidane has no faith in Real Madrid squad  

The irritating aspect of closing down a gap at the top of the table – and sport in general – is that winning games is paramount. Otherwise, life for Arsenal fans would be like skipping through daisies every day.

This irritating reality is currently Real Madrid’s big problem in La Liga, a team that was given the chance to reduce the gap with Barcelona to a more manageable six-points but completely fluffed their lines in San Mames in a goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao. The theme of the week in La Liga is already underway.

The front cover of ‘AS’ on Monday is claiming that Coach Zizou has no confidence in his squad and only trusts in a core of 13 players. The problem is that 13 isn’t really getting it done – Gareth Bale perpetually injured, Cristiano Ronaldo currently 47^th in the scoring rankings (half as many goals at the Benevento goalkeeper) – and with the whole team in possession of a goal-scoring tally worse than the 2014/15 season.

Madrid’s latest CRISIS! sees the team in fourth in La Liga, even behind Atletico Madrid. The next challenge lies in the Champions League on Wednesday in a bit of a crisis club clasico against Borussia Dortmund. Tune into the Locker Room at 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT for a look at how much of crisis rating our panel are giving Real Madrid from 1 to 10.

2) Luis Suarez says never Neymar at Real Madrid

Barcelona are a happy camp. Which is understandable.

Despite dropping four points in the past two league games, opponents are still waaaay behind. So, it is the words of a chirpy Luis Suarez being pinged around the world on Monday, as he talks through the departure of Neymar over the summer saying that it has been a case of no ‘I’ in team to fill the Brazilian void in the Camp Nou ranks - "other footballers who contribute a lot have come in.”

Suarez also predicts that Neymar will never, ever, ever join Real Madrid despite the clearly nonsense stories percolating across the media over the past few weeks. “I know how Neymar is and the admiration he had for Barcelona and his team-mates,” mused the Uruguayan perhaps underestimating the admiration Neymar has for Neymar when it comes to career decisions.

Both PSG and in Barcelona are in action in the Champions League on Tuesday and both in pretty good games. Neymar and co have a glamor clash – and serious test – against Bayern Munich while Barca have a final group clash against Sporting CP.

Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for a full look ahead at a clinching – and clenching week in the Champions League.

3) La Liga exodus to Serie A over winter window

Transfer Tracker time!

In reference to the aforementioned story about Coach Zizou not rating his squad players, Roma might be making a loan move for Dani Ceballos who ruined a perfectly promising career this summer by leaving Betis.

Arda Turan looks good to move to Serie A over the winter window with the revelation from the Barca player’s agent that several teams are interested in the footballer, who is very much an outcast at the Camp Nou.

Atletico’s spell-checking challenging fullback Sime Vrsajlko is also Serie A bound – a trend, it seems – with either Roma or Juventus capturing the defender who has just two starts in La Liga this season.

Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for the daily transfer tracker – a round-up of news, views and made-up stuff to fill some slots.

4) Seahawks come to live in Sunday night sizzler

The Seattle Seahawks proved that there was still live in the old NFL sea dog on Sunday night – well, sea bird anyway – with a 24-10 victory over plucky upstarts Philadelphia Eagles. The weekend wraps up on Monday with a fun AFC North showdown between rivals with the Pittsburg Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the NBA, the Warriors are taking on the Pelicans in what would be a one-sided contest if taken in a very literal Game of Thrones style battle.

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.