Sports Burst – The Ronaldo Rulebook
No ‘I’ in Juventus team and Bayern Munich’s late entrance
by Tim Stannard
Allegri warns of bench duties for Ronaldo
A day ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s home Serie A debut for Juventus – oh, that move all seemed such a long time ago now – and Juve boss, Max Allegri, has hinted in a press conference on Friday that CR7 may not always be in CR heaven with the Old Lady.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash Lazio the Juventus boss warned that a huge, stacked squad, games every three days, Ronaldo not quite fitting in the system (didn’t actually say that) means that Ronaldo could be ‘pulling-a-James-Rodriguez’ with some downtime this season. “Ronaldo will never be on the bench, right? No, it can happen,” warned Allegri.
To be fair, the admission is no great surprise as even under Coach Zizou at Real Madrid Ronaldo was rested for matches when his goal-scoring talents were not always required.
However, there might be an issue with the set-piece taking which is something that was the domain of Ronaldo at Real Madrid. Allegri noted that penalty duties will be shared between Paolo Dybala and Ronaldo. But as for another Ronaldo favorite? “The problem is more about who takes free-kicks, where we now have around 6-7 players who'll be standing around the ball!”
Much ado about nothing in transfer world
TRANSFER TRACKER TIME!
Friday is largely about the negative space – things that haven’t happened this week that everyone got excited about earlier on.
Paul Pogba has yet to leave Manchester United, Luka Modric is still at Real Madrid, Thierry Henry has yet to be confirmed as Bordeaux boss, Ivan Rakitic has not gone to PSG, and both Kylian Mbappe and Neymar are still at PSG – unless Sports Burst really hasn’t been paying attention.
That last story is still in the ‘so there is a chance’ bracket with some movement expected over Friday or the weekend in UEFA’s deliberations over Financial Fair Play protocols with the French club. However, we are talking 4% chance of either player leaving PSG.
One footballer who should be leaving PSG though is Gonzalo Guedes with Valencia looking to turn a loan deal from last season into a permanent move if a price can be agreed.
Head to our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page at 12PM ET / 9AM PT for the latest fun and games from the TRANSFER TRACKER live show. Or simply watch back at your leisure. Either way works.
Lyon boosted by return of a fantastic Fekir
The weekend is here on beIN SPORTS!
Let’s face it, Europa League play-off first legs were not quite cutting the mustard in terms of sating football appetites. Lyon leads the way on beIN SPORTS with the Ligue Un title challengers having to dust themselves off from last week’s rather shock defeat to newbies, Reims last Friday. However, against Strasbourg the Lyonnais can expect the return of the wonderful Nabil Fekir. That clash is live on beIN SPORTS at 2:40PM ET / 11:40AM PT.
Over on CONNECT and our Spanish sister channel and La Liga rumbles into round two with Getafe taking on Eibar at 2:15PM ET / 11:15AM PT followed by Leganes against Real Sociedad. Remarkably, the two grounds are only a few miles from each other so the chance for a Madrid suburbs double date must be on the cards for some.
Catch the best of the action live on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for Funday Friday with Kevin Egan.
Bayern begins inevitable defense of Bundesliga title
Being tardy is not normally what one would expect from Germans but it terms of European football, the Bundesliga is yawning, stretching, pooting and getting down to business very late in the game with the campaign’s kick-off on Friday.
However, the season is getting off to a sizzle with reigning champions – and almost certainly champions this season as well – Bayern Munich playing host to Hoffenheim. The clash will be a first league game in charge for Niko Kovac, the club’s third coach in 12 months.
Bayern is already looking like a fairly ominous outfit having already battered Kovac’s former club Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Super Cup. The hot topic around the Allianz Arena is whether Robert Lewandowski is in the mood to perform a task for which he is paid heavily – score goals. That’s something the Polish forward failed to do in the Champions League against Real Madrid and in the World Cup. “He is keen and eager,” soothed Kovac.
Let’s not forget also that it’s also MLS Friday with a bottom v top clash in the Eastern Conference as Orlando City takes on the very high-flying Atlanta United in a rivalry clash – all be it between two clubs separated by a solid 10-hour drive. Later on, the West Coast Posse is offering up ‘El Trafico’ as the LA Galaxy hosts LAFC.
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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. Sports Burst 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.