1) Neymar gets a free pass for new national shaming

After some to-ing and fro-ing with the Brazilian Football Federation and Dunga, Barcelona have announced that Neymar is set to be hugely disappointing for Brazil in just the one tournament this summer.

And that is set to be a biggest of all meltdowns in the Olympic Games in Rio where the entire Brazilian squad will enjoy the opportunity to emotionally collapse under the gaze of public pressure all over again, two years after the World Cup. This means that Neymar will miss out on being sent off in a group game in the Made-Up Copa America this summer in the USA, and miss the rest of yet another lackluster tournament for Brazil with suspension.

Meanwhile, Barcelona have released a fancy video of what the New Camp Nou is going to look like. Very fancy indeed is the answer if the club can find the cash, although the VIP seat stuffed by clippings from Carles Puyol’s hair sounds a bit pricey at $40,000 for the season for all home games.

2) Ronaldo says all ok despite hamstring twang

Normally, the only way to get Cristiano Ronaldo off a football pitch before the 90 minutes is up is with an enormous mirror dangled from a helicopter to guide the forward towards the locker room like a flying Pied Piper. So there were flutters aplenty from the Real Madrid massive when CR7 trotted to the sidelines rather tenderly in the final moments of the Villarreal clash, after an overhead kick went a little pear-shaped in the 3-0 victory.

But fear not – the smile, hair, tan and hamstring all looks just fine the morning after on Thursday, although Ronaldo may miss out on the weekend trip to take on Rayo Vallecano.

Will all due respect to the mighty Vallecans, Ronaldo’s absence will not be a big miss considering Rayo are not the sturdiest of teams. As to whether the footballer’s ability to go on tippy-toes for the group photo ahead of the Man City clash in the Champions League next week? That could be in jeopardy.

The limp wrapped up a night in La Liga when the top three were faced with big tests, and all those tests were passed with Barcelona hammering Deportivo 8-0, and Atletico being Atletico by grinding out an impressive 1-0 victory at Athletic. La Liga still has a couple of games to go and they are relegation sizzlers. Real Sociedad host bottom-of-the-table, Getafe and Granada face Levante in what in Spain is kmown breathlessly as a ‘six-pointer’. The action starts on beIN Español from 2.25PM ET and you can catch the highlights on the XTRA from 10PM ET.

 3) Totti sends Roma into raptures as Milan close of Serie A series

Once again Serie A was a bag of fun on Wednesday with Roma making a few waves after a late show from Francesco Totti, who scored two goals in four minutes after coming off the bench to give his side a very improbable 3-2 win against Torino. Let’s see if Milan can keep up the football flow on Thursday with a home game against the struggling but plucky Carpi, to keep the San Siro side in sixth, which might be enough for a Europa Place due to one of those if-Juve-wins-this-and-this happens-and-this-happens type scenarios. That game is live on beIN SPORTS from 2.40PM ET with a wrap up of the midweek action from Serie A on the XTRA at 10PM ET.

4) Arsenal continue ferocious battle to finish fourth. And no higher, thank you very much

Arsene Wenger has another golden opportunity to disappoint Arsenal fans all over again in a weirdly-placed home clash against West Bromwich Albion on Thursday. However, the stoic French boss does admit that the club’s supporters do seem to be particularly down in the dumps these days, despite the thrills and spills to be had in fighting for fourth spot. Catch the highlights of that game and all the reaction from 10PM ET on the XTRA.

Poor Matts Hummels has been having a bit of trouble sleeping over a decision to be made this summer over whether the defender should stay at Borussia Dortmund, or move to a number of other mega-clubs that would like the stopper’s signature. An extra half an hour to nod off at night, apparently.

5) Olympic Games countdown underway in Athens

The Olympics are coming! Get ready Neymar! Get ready Rio! The torch has been lit in Athens after a match was borrowed from Germany – not really, a cool mirror was used - and will now complete a global tour from one financially destitute country to another, ending up in Brazil