by Tim Stannard
 

With Neymar and Kylian Mbappe out of today's visit to Bordeaux, Europe's best signing, Moise Kean, has another chance to shine

As Coach Zizou watched his players shoot high and wide against Real Sociedad on Monday without Karim Benzema to put the ball into the back of the net, the French coach might have held an envious thought about a striker at PSG that would have been quite useful. 

Not Kylian Mbappe - that's a prohibitive bank-buster for Real Madrid, especially after dropping a good two hundred million dollars on the forward pair of Luka Jovic and Eden Hazard with almost nothing to show for it. Not to mention the $100 million dropped on the young Brazilian pair of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. 

Instead, Zidane might have had Moise Kean in mind - arguably the best signing of any club in Europe this season. 

The Italian 21-year-old was going nowhere fast at Everton before Thomas Tuchel brought the forward in on loan last summer. Since arriving at PSG - for no transfer fee at all, let's not forget - the footballer has scored 15 goals in three competitions, including a strike in the famous 4-1 win against Barcelona in the Camp Nou. 

Kean's goals - and those of Mauro Icardi alongside him - are going to be crucial in today's Ligue 1 match at Bordeaux with Neymar and Angel di Maria still injured and Kylian Mbappe suspended. It's not a match where points can be dropped with one of the most competitive title races in years underway in France. 

Lille are currently leading the pack on 59 points, followed by PSG on 57, Lyon on 56 and Monaco making a charge in fourth on 55. 

Bordeaux vs. PSG is live today on beIN SPORTS at 3PM ET and follows Lyon hosting Rennes at 1PM ET. League-leading Lille, with the North American forward pair of Timothy Weah and Jonathan David, are at Marseille on beIN XTRA at 3PM ET. 

Benzema faces crucial day in fitness race

Back to Coach Zizou and the Real Madrid manager's main task on Wednesday will be coaxing Karim Benzema into being fit for Sunday's Madrid Derby. 

The French forward has been out with a muscle tear for nearly three weeks but was training on his own on Tuesday, the first possible step to a timely return on Sunday against Atletico Madrid.

A former Real Madrid coach, Bernd Schuster, has been on hand to tell Zidane what he knows already in that "the squad is very limited. The teams that are above them in LaLiga have better squads." 

Thanks. For. That. 

Sergio Ramos has also been active in terms of training and could be back for the Champions League match against Atalanta in a fortnight's time and the run-in of the LaLiga title race, where the Real Madrid captain was crucial last season.

The Madrid Derby is live on beIN SPORTS on Sunday with coverage beginning at 9:30AM ET. And the Sports Burst live show on beIN XTRA at 11AM ET will continue its build up to Sunday's capital city tussle. 

Pep Guardiola comments on "uncomfortable" situation at Barca 

Pep Guardiola took the chance to comment on what he deftly described as the "uncomfortable" situation at Barcelona in regards to the former president, Josep Bartomeu, being detained by police and held overnight over an investigation into financial corruption. 

However, there was support for Bartomeu with the not unreasonable notion that "he's already now innocent until the court maybe proves he is guilty."

The second Big Thing going on at Barcelona is Sunday's presidential elections, one of the most important dates in the history of the club as Barcelona's members vote on who should be the person to deal with a $1.5 billion debt, overblown salary budget, and deal with the future of Lionel Messi. 

"Hopefully as many people as possible can vote and choose the right president to lead this incredible club, for me the best club in the world, for the sentimental issue," said Pep, whose former president at Barcelona, Joan Laporta, is the frontrunner in the poll. 

The third Big Thing is a Copa del Rey match for Barcelona against Sevilla today and...that's a shame as Sports Burst is about to hit its world count limit. 

But there is time to mention that beIN SPORTS has five live games today (11 across the whole network) starting at 11AM with Galatasaray in action in the Turkish Super Lig and finishing with a Copa Libertadores double-header in the second leg of the first qualifying round.