By Tim Stannard

1) Ronaldo in, but grooming gaffe sees Asensio out for APOEL 

And so Barcelona continued a befuddling but bewitching start to the season. Juventus came a'calling to the Camp Nou, looking in fine form after their own sprightly start to the campaign in Serie A. 

But the Italians were sent packing after a dominating 3-0 win on Tuesday in the Champions League with the same message as opponents in La Liga. Barca are back in business.

Real Madrid will be hoping for the same vibe in their own opening clash on Wednesday against Cypriot side, APOEL. The signs have not been great so far with Coach Zizou's men faltering in their football with back-to-back draws at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

But the non-suspended Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to give a temporary respite to Madrid's number nine issue which see Gareth Bale blundering, Karim Benzema crocked and Alvaro Morata...sold. 

One bright spot for Real Madrid in the early stages of the season, Marco Asensio, is out of the squad injured - a leg-shaving incident of course - meaning that a dusted off Ronaldo, who is currently suspended from league action, will be needed to get Real Madrid through what should be a less-than-testing Wednesday.

2) Wednesday wonders sees Liverpool set against Sevilla 

Wednesday's clashes are oozing sauciness all over the place. Liverpool against Sevilla anyone? Ooh la la. 

Or Dutch champions taking on pretty much the most expensively-assembled squad in the world outside of Paris - That would be Feyenoord v Manchester City? Liverpool's game is live on beIN SPORTS CANADA with Feyenoord available on CONNECT from 2:45PM ET / 11:45PM PT. 

Elsewhere, what about RB Leipzig against whatever is left of Monaco these days?

And for some frenetic end-to-end action, Tottenham hosting Borussia Dortmund at the cursed Wembley Stadium is also enough to induce a few goose-pimples.

All the best action from the day's clashes can be caught on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT. 

3) Marcelo renews for Madrid - and gets suspension 

Time for a little bit of a wrap-up of everything else. Real Madrid's Marcelo has been given a two-match suspension in La Liga for the defender's red card lash out against Levante.

Oh...here's a sneaky one. Marcelo has also renewed his deal that will keep the Brazilian at a club that he joined way back in 2006, before the internet was even conceived. Presentation to take place on Thursday. 

Manchester United will be waiting over news on Paul Pogba who suffered a hamstring injury during the team's 3-0 win over Basel that upset Jose Mourinho for his charges attempting 'Playstation' football. 

4) LA set for 2028 Olympic Games confirmation 

There will be dancing in the streets of Paris and Los Angeles on Wednesday. Well. Probably not, as both cities are set to be awarded the prize of hosting the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympic Games, respectively.

And that means years of disruption due to construction and preparations, massive budget overruns that will see taxpayers paying for over decades to come. Yay! 

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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