By Tim Stannard

1) Zizou messed with Real Madrid minds after Bale banter

It was a comment to drive fear, darkness and despair into the hearts of Real Madrid fans ahead of Saturday’s final against Juventus. 

Gareth Bale might be the chosen one to the start the Cardiff football carnival for the defending champions despite every shred of evidence pointing to the in-form, and very non-injured Isco being the main man for Real Madrid. 

In fact, Zidane was hurling curve ball after curve ball into the Champions League mix at Tuesday’s media day in the Spanish capital with the hint that perhaps even Luka Modric might be the one to pay the price for wanting his cake and very much eating it. “Both are sensational players, they have shared the pitch on 16 occasions this season, why can't that happen again?” 

Whether it was counter-measures shot out of Madrid’s Champions League plane or simply Zizou messing with media minds, Madrid’s French coach has set up the conundrum of how to get 12 Madrid men out on the pitch on Saturday. And this time, that doesn’t include the referee. 

Tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM PT for the latest hot news from the Barcelona and Real Madrid camps in surprisingly big weeks for both teams.   

2) Spalletti sets up move into Inter

Well, one set of juicy managerial transfer stories have now hit a dead-end even before May is over. Which sucks.  Those were the stories concerning Inter’s news boss, stories that frequently included the names of Diego Simeone and Antonio Conte, as if the chance of managing a going-nowhere-fast Serie A side was all so appealing. 

The coach-block to the stories is Roma’s Luciano Spalletti who is leaving the second-placed Serie A side and is expected to be heading straight to Milan. “Under his stewardship this season, the team has won more Serie A points and scored more goals than any side in Roma’s history,” said the Roma president, James Pallotta, on his manager’s sprightly 18-month tenure.   

3) Wenger set to stay on for next century with Arsenal

Uh oh. Things just got a whole lot worse in the whole managers-moving summer saga. Another story just bit the dust.  To nobody’s surprise Arsene Wenger is set to stay on with Arsenal for another two years to extend the 21 sun cycles the Frenchman has already served at the club. 

This is despite growing fan pressure for a change in the hot seat after Arsenal failed to finish in the club’s habitual top-four spot. A formal announcement is expected on Wednesday and Wenger’s first big challenge will be to prevent Alexis Sanchez from moving out of the club in a funk.  In a final curious coaching story, the formally very trendy Thomas Tuchel has been sacked as Borussia Dortmund manager after a two-year spell at the Bundesliga outfit. It appears that relations between Tuchel and his club bosses had become increasingly strained.   

4) Kun staying put as Milan get busy 

TRANSFER TRACKER! 

Deep breath and we’re off. Manchester City have laughed off suggestions that Kun Aguero is going anywhere. Literally, by the looks of it. PSG are in talks with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The busiest bees of all at the moment are Milan who have officially signed Mateo Musacchio from Villarreal and are on the brink of bringing in Atalanta midfielder, Franck Kessie who has had a medical with the club. The signing of Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid is reportedly being wrapped up after the Champions League final. And after the footballer has possibly posted more racy photos with his fiancée to social media.  Tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM every midweek evening to get the latest transfer news and very made-up rumors.   

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.