By Tim Stannard

1) Neymar faces tug-of-war between club and country

Well, this is going to be awkward, and no amount of tea and cookies is going to resolve it. Dunga - the cheer-bag manager of Brazil - and the happy-go-lucky, joke-a-thon that is Luis Enrique are set to have a frosty tete-a-tete, on Thursday, to thrash out the immediate future of Neymar. It’s a negotiation that might well go along the lines of “Please! No! Please! No! Please! No!”

The topic in question is whether Neymar will spend his entire summer playing football and potentially miss the start of the Spanish season, where he has apparently formed a handy partnership with Leo Messi and Luis Suarez at the Catalan club.

As the captain of Brazil, both player and Dunga would very much like to participate in the Copa America this summer. As it is an official FIFA tournament, Barca don’t have too much choice in the matter. The problem arises with the carnival-fest that is the Olympic Games which is in Rio.

Neymar would quite like to attend that too and win a gold medal in his home country. Aside from the fact that football should not be part of the games in the first place, Dunga’s thorny issue is that the Olympics does not fall under FIFA’s must-play list, so Luis Enrique has the right to flip Dunga and Neymar the bird. However, this could then lead to problems with Neymar’s agent-father, who is constantly wittering away about interest form other clubs for his client-son. Missing out on the Games could swing it. Find out what happened in these testy talks on the XTRA from 10PM ET.

2) ‘Trading Places’ as England’s fallen idols face heavyweight bout in parking lot

Suddenly, the English are interested in the Europa League. Before, it used to be an accursed competition that was a distraction for many clubs from the all-important EPL battle to…er…qualify for the Europa League. But now Liverpool and Manchester United are all with the Dan Aykroyd in ‘Trading Places’ and having to slum it in Europe’s battle to find the best sixth-placed finishing team, as it is almost certainly the only path to the Champions League for the pair who are having rather forlorn domestic campaigns.

With most questions to Jurgen Klopp and Louis Van Gaal asking if it was a little bit unseemly for such giants of world football to be scrapping in Europe’s parking lot, at least the Liverpool boss seemed positively enthused by the prospect. But, then again, Klopp could be enthused by a fridge light going on and off at the opening and closing of the door. Catch the highlights and analysis of this clash and some other humdingers on the XTRA from 10PM ET.

One team who would give all manner of limbs to have the chance to moan about being involved in Europe are Newcastle United. At time of writing, there are strong whiffs out of England’s North-East that Steve McClaren is about to be chopped and replaced by Rafa Benitez, last seen falling out with most of his players at Real Madrid. At least Rafa will have supportive fans, if the Spaniard can steer the Toon away from the relegation zone.

3) Allegri prepares for Juve Champions League departure as famous name wants walk to Manchester

Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri, is already beep-beep reversing away from the importance of the Champions League in the face of his team’s imminent departure to Bayern Munich. Looking ahead to Friday’s Serie A clash with Sassuolo – LIVE on beIN SPORTS from 2.40PM – Allegri says that the tournament should not be an “obsession.” It won’t be in just under a week’s time.

Meanwhile, a current Italian coach has thrown his hat into the ring to take over from Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United – Gennaro Gattuso. The former majestic midfielder is currently picking up coaching experience in Italy’s lower leagues but says that he would “walk to Manchester” to coach in Old Trafford.

4) No-buddies Blatter moans over lack of fond farewell from FIFA

Happy Birthday Sepp Blatter! The former FIFA man turns 80 and to celebrate he is happily telling the world that they can all walk off a cliff. Poor Sepp is unhappy that he did not receive a major tribute at the recent FIFA’s congress to thank him for the tireless work of ignoring decades of corruption and making football’s world governing body make the NFL look positively delightful in comparison. The octogenarian complains that friends are cancelling dinners and people are less than happy to take his calls. A good news story in a world of trouble and strife.  

5) Nadal says Sharapova should pay for mistake over positive test

Rafa Nadal has brought out his naughty stick by saying that Maria Sharapova should pay for the “negligence” that lead to the Russian’s positive drugs test from the Australian Open.

The Spaniard also declared himself to be completely clean despite insinuations from the French media over the years that Spanish sport and Nadal himself was getting a helping hand from chemicals. “I’m a little tired of it” said Nadal on Thursday. Sharapova, herself, got some good news on with racquet sponsor Head confirming that their deal with the player will continue, despite the failed drugs test.