by Tim Stannard 

1) Simeone admits feeling fear ahead Bayern Munich battle

To be fair, Atletico Madrid are not quite in the same soccer situation as Leicester City. 5000-1 shots for the EPL title and threatened with relegation trouble 12 months before. The Rojiblancos have been Spain’s third – and someone’s first – force for some time. Imagining Diego Simeone’s side in the Champions League final is not such a bizarre concept, considering Atleti were in that same position two years ago and just seconds from winning an incredible victory against Real Madrid.

But the rise and rise of Atletico stills feels like a blow for people power, a sign that a huge amount of hard work, commitment and togetherness can match budget-busting salaries on multiple versions of contracts and players brought just for shirt sales.

That battle against the Powers-that-Be continues in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday with Atletico holding a 1-0 advantage over Bayern Munich. A failure for Pep Guardiola in this particular encounter would see a sour note to the Spaniard’s spell in the Bundesliga, especially considering the trouble that his club are having in clinching the domestic title. A third loss in a row at the semifinal stages and the third loss to a Spanish team would not sit well at all. The problem, says Pep, is that he is a victim of his own success. Sports Burst feels the pain.

Interestingly, Diego Simeone showed his inner softie by admitting that he does feel fear before every game. Unless he doesn’t and he is merely messing with the world. The Argentinean coach says that his team will be hunting for the win, rather than hanging on for the draw. Which they are really good at, luckily. The good people of Canada can catch that clash live on beIN SPORTS at 2.45ET PM. And you can see the highlights and best analysis on the XTRA at 10PM.

2) Good, bad and very bad news for Real Madrid ahead of Manchester City match-up

Karim Benzema missing the match against Manchester City is not a huge surprise considering the niggles the Frenchman has being suffering of late. Cristiano Ronaldo being available, is not a huge surprise either considering the remarkable powers of recovery that the Portuguese poacher seems to possess. But Casemiro dropping out of contention for the semifinal clash is very bad news indeed, considering how important the Brazilian has been to Zinedine Zidane in trying to give shape and structure to the team.

“Others players can do his job,” says Zidane. It remains to be seen if that particular role will be given to the previously outcast James Rodriguez.

Manuel Pellegrini, who will be on the visitor’s bench on Wednesday of the club he used to manage, says that politics is a key driver at Real Madrid as well as football matters getting in the way sometimes. The Chilean also recalled fondly how he found out he was being let go after just one season in charge at the Bernabeu. “I knew that I was fired because club president Florentino Perez had told Villarreal president Fernando Roig and he told me.” Stay classy Florentino! Tune into the XTRA at 10PM for a full preview and to find out who our pundits think will be filling Casemiro’s big hole, as it were.

3) Leicester on cloud nine-thousand after Miracle Monday

Judging by some of the scenes in James Vardy’s house and Sports Burst’s sister who lives in Leicester’s city center, there are probably some fragile heads in the East Midlands, the new home of the Premier League winners.

Some of those may have belonged to the footballers who were back in training on Tuesday, in what may have been a more half-hearted affair. And deservedly so. Catch all the events of the day after the night before on the XTRA from 10PM.

4) New EPL challengers celebrate multi-million-dollar win

The people of Burnley might also be feeling a little fragile, too, after the town’s team secured promotion to the Premier League, which they now have a decent chance of winning considering how football has gone all funny these days. But manager, Sean Dyche, was on a bit of a downer still asking people to wait 48 hours before writing off their chances next season. Tune into beIN SPORTS on Saturday morning from 7.30PM ET to find out who out of Brighton and Middlesbrough will be joining Burnley in England’s top-flight as the two teams face off for the final place.

5) No self-doubt for Cristiano Ronaldo shocker

Cristiano Ronaldo says he always knew he would be the best. And will go down in history. Which is nice.

Leo Messi set to miss Olympics with Argentinean only playing Copa America football this summer.