Sports Burst – Zinedine Zidane v Cristiano Ronaldo: The Other Great Debate
Cristiano Ronaldo needs to find form fast, as Francesco Totti celebrates milestone. 5 fact-checked truths in an ocean of deceit.
By Tim Stannard
1) Ronaldo looks to prove Zizou wrong with Champions League comeback
A Tuesday to divide offices, families and make Uber trips uncomfortable.
In one corner of the great debate, a temperamental cult figure with a peculiar skin color, unable to control his emotions, a constant on social media, loathed by hundreds of millions but adored in the same numbers. Someone who can do no wrong for many. Ever.
In another, a cool, calm and collected figure, but entitled. A character who holds down their position in the world because of their name, not for what they have done. A personality with no drive or vision. Just soundbites.
Yep, it's Ronaldo v Zidane in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, when we will find out if the former was right to be full of righteous energy for being subbed against Las Palmas or if the latter was correct in cooling the failing footballer's heels to keep him fresh.
Good people of Her Majesty's Canada - tune in at 2:45PM ET / 11:45AM PT to find out as Real Madrid head to German climes in what could be an epic encounter.
2) Leicester make home CL debut as Juve looks for rebound win
Elsewhere in Tuesday's pantry of soccer goodies, Leicester City host their first Champions League game with the visit of Porto, and Juventus look to move on from a disappointing round one in the Champions League which saw a home stalemate against Sevilla, with a visit to take on Dinamo Zagreb. Catch all the best highlights on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.
Luckily for Unai Emery, the Sevilla boss was on Spanish radio on Monday night, so no-one could see the nose of the PSG boss growing and growing as he claimed to be completely content with a squad that has lost two league games already this season.
“The team is on the right road to become one of the biggest in Europe,” claimed Emery as his konk flew across the Champs Elysees and stopped traffic. PSG are in action on Wednesday away at Ludogorets. Hatem Ben Arfa misses out on the squad call-up, but this time through injury rather than “sporting reasons.”
3) England on brink of firing Allardyce after newspaper sting
Oh dear. England might be needing a new manager already. Despite only having lead his country for one game, Sam Allardyce is on the verge of being fired by his federation bosses after unwittingly falling foul of a newspaper sting, where he reportedly explained how rules on 3rd party ownership for players could be bypassed, rules put in place by Allardyce’s employers.
4) Yaya Toure questions FIFA decision to close down racism commission
A member of FIFA’s Taskforce Against Racism and Discrimination has expressed his disappointment after it was announced on Monday that the group was to be disbanded with the issue of racism in the game apparently solved. That member was Yaya Toure who has posted a statement questioning the rationale for the decision in very direct terms. “Are FIFA being complacent ahead of a World Cup in Russia? This makes no sense.”
5) Happy Birthday Totti!
And finally, Sports Burst is wishing Francesco Totti a very happy 40th birthday, a man still scoring going into his fifth decade of existence. Totti, we salute you.
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.