Julen Lopetegui set to be replaced if no sign of Real Madrid revival 

Julen Lopetegui is certainly having quite the 2018.

The Spanish coach is well on his way to being sacked from two of the highest profile jobs in world soccer in the space of about five months. Fine work, indeed.

The first of those was national team coach of Spain just before the start of the World Cup after agreeing to take over Real Madrid once the tournament was over. 

It's the Madrid job that hangs in the balance now as the club game goes into an international break with the Santiago Bernabeu side in full-on CRISIS! mode. 

The name of Antonio Conte is being thrown into the mix by Spanish paper, AS, on Monday as a contender to take over the Real Madrid job as a) the Italian is an experienced manager with a history of success and b) he's a warm body that's available. 

The paper says that Lopetegui has until El Clasico on 28th October to turn things around for a side that has not scored a goal in four games and picked up just the single point from nine in La Liga.

Real Madrid's current malaise is sure to be a hot topic in the Locker Room at 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM ET. 

Zidane unlikely to make Premier League move 

Staying on the topic of Real Madrid managers and Zinedine Zidane's agent, Alain Migliaccio, has spoken about the reasons for the Frenchman leaving Real Madrid rather abruptly at the end of last season and how he is unlikely to take over Manchester United. 

Migliaccio is quoted in the Journal de Dimanche that his client was worn out psychologically after winning three Champions League titles in a row and needed a sabbatical year. 

What happens when the time is up is still anyone's guess, but it is unlikely to be the Premier League - "it's not his style," said Migliaccio, who did hint that a return to Juventus in some capacity will be Coach Zizou's next move. 

Ballon d'Or nominations released with Ronaldo seeking sixth title 

Still nursing an aching virtual void of not having any football awards ceremonies to bicker about on the internet? Then it's a big thanks on Monday to the Ballon d'Or - the original argument-starter, dating back to 1956.

The prize awarded by French publication - France Football - is drip, dripping the 30-man final list throughout today. 

It's a list that Sports Burst suspects is set to contain an awful lot of Frenchmen considering it is created by the editorial staff of the magazine before being voted on by journalists around the world. Antoine Griezmann, for one, knows that there is a good chance of a podium finish in this particular poll. 

That certainly explains the presence of Karim Benzema in the early batch of names released. The current holder of the award is Cristiano Ronaldo, a footballer who is looking for his sixth prize. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on December 3rd. 

Get the thoughts of our Gabriel Amado and Phil Schoen on the Sports Burst show live on our beIN SPORTS Facebook page at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. 

Messi wants Dembele out while Villa plot Thierry Henry move 

Time to scoot through some transfer gossip and the fun story that Lionel Messi would quite like to see the imminent departure of Ousmane Dembele at Barcelona, despite the fact that the Frenchman's goals have been key to the team when he has played. 

Mr Messi would also like to see Adrien Rabiot brought in to add to the 13 midfielders already in the Barcelona squad. That's the story being peddled by Don Balon, anyway, which is not the most reliable source on the planet. 

And finally, English Championship side Aston Villa might be making an out-there appointment for the vacant manager's job with Thierry Henry being brought in to replace the fired Steve Bruce.