By Tim Stannard (@stannardsports)

1) Pellegrini heads to old stomping ground as Pep returns to La Liga

Sports Burst is not going to suggest that any warm balls were in action during Friday’s Champions League draw – depends on the intensity of the studio lighting, to an extent – but the truly Grade A storylines have been saved for the final with a potential match-up between Pep Guardiola’s present and future as well as a Madrid-derby Champions League revenge mission for Diego Simeone.

Instead, it’s Grade B Decaf stories – still pretty good ones though - with Manuel Pellegrini facing Real Madrid and Florentino Perez, who fired him rather cruelly eight years ago, and Pep Guardiola heading back to familiar stomping grounds in La Liga at the Vicente Calderon, and then a possible match-up in the final in Milan against some former foes from the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane has declared already in Friday’s pre-Getafe press conference that the match is going to be a walkover. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Instead, it’s going to be a tough battle, etc. Meanwhile, Manuel Pellegrini reminds his French predecessor “always to win the Champions League is important but at Real Madrid you must win a title.” We shan’t correct him on his word order seeing as he is such a lovely fella.

Tune into the Locker Room tonight at 9.30PM ET where Kay Murray and the team will peer into their crystal balls to predict the future for these for teams.

2) Liverpool to face torpedo attack from Yellow Submarine in Europa League semis

The Europa League draw took place as well just hours after a truly stunning night stuffed with comebacks, penalty-shoot outs and a game in the Ukraine that nobody really noticed. But the winners of that match, Shakhtar, will face Sevilla whilst Liverpool have a tough than it sounds test against Villarreal.

3) Chinese investors poke around Milan as Napoli gears up for season-defining game

Seeing as the Italians have not exactly had much to do with all the football taking place this week, without a single team in final 16 of both the Champions League and Europa League, it’s beIN SPORTS duty to show a little bit of T&C to Serie A, which is still a very fun place to be. Unless you happen to be AC Milan manager. But that’s one of the clubs where some Chinese investors have been sniffing around, as well as Inter. Here’s an idea. Why don’t the two teams just merge and pool resources? Can’t see any problems with that.

Inter are involved in the match of the weekend in Serie A which sees Napoli heading north on the hunt for a win to both keep them vaguely in contention with Juventus at the top and away from Roma in third. Tune in to beIN SPORTS on Saturday at 2.40PM ET for live coverage of that whopper as Inter continue life without the maestro of the meltdown, Gonzalo Higuain.

4) A top four tussle in Ligue Un, Tony Meola takes on some Italians and Tigers look to roar against Wolves

In either a move to spice up Ligue Un or make it harder for teams to gain promotion from France’s second tier, starting from next season the team finishing in 18th in the top flight will playoff against the team finishing third from the division down below. It’s a change that probably won’t impact the two teams in the big Ligue Un clash of the day on beIN SPORTS Connect at 2:15ET PM, as second place Lyon host Nice in fourth. An away win for the Mediterranean outfit could see Nice moving in France’s 2nd automatic Champions League spot.

It’s a big, old relegation battle on beIN SPORTS ESSSSPAAAAANOOOOLL OLE!, this afternoon, as bottom-of-the-table Levante host Espanyol in a game that really needs to be won if the Valencia’s club’s goose is not completely cooked.  

Championship action returns to beIN SPORTS screens at 2.40PM ET with Hull City hoping to stop a very long term rot with a home win against Wolves and hold their position in the division’s play-off zone. Brighton will also be in action as they look to move into second spot with the Seagulls taking on Fulham. And don’t forget that there is All-American Soccer from the NASL at 6.45PM ET with a live clash between Jacksonville Armanda FC – where Tony Meola is the coach – and Miami FC, the team lead by a certain Alessandro Nesta. If you do forget, then you are not a true patriot. Catch all those highlights from the XTRA at 9PM ET. Not 10PM as normal, but 9PM. That’s 9PM.

5) End of the road for Raonic as F1 drivers squabble over the bill

Canada’s tennis great, Milos Raonic, won’t be able to take advantage of Novak Djokovic’s absence from the final stages of the Monte Carlo Masters, as the big hitter has just been knocked out by Andy Murray in the quarterfinal stages.

Tom Sykes is leading the way in the SBK Superbikes practice sessions on Friday, in what could be a very rainy weekend in the Netherlands. And that means very watchable racing. Tune in for Race 1 on Saturday from 6.55ET PM where they could be more spills than a toddler carrying a cup of milk across an ice rink.

What did 17 Formula 1 drivers do when being presented with the check after a bonding meal ahead of Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix in China? They split it 17 ways of course, with Nico Rosberg probably complaining that he didn’t have a starter.