beIN SPORTS

1) This is Neymar's world, we just live in it

Neymar’s quest for world dominance is continuing - and he won’t let the pesky press get in the way of it.

After producing yet another scintillating show  - this time with two goals against Celtic - as PSG ran out 7-1 winners despite an early scare from the Bhoys, the Brazilian has left all before him in awe.

His boss Unai Emery, of whom he supposedly isn’t a fan of, was first to praise the former Barcelona man on a job well done. 

"He's extraordinary. He wants to play the games, to be present on the pitch. He makes everyone benefit from his talent.” said the Spaniard, who lamented the fact Celtic managed to even get on the scoresheet.

Fellow Brazilian Dani Alves also dished out some praise, but insists what Neymar is currently doing should be no surprise to anyone.

”It is not a surprise because [Neymar] did it like that his whole career, and it is not going to be different here."

It wasn’t quite the perfect night for Neymar however, as his party was well and truly pooped by the media who decided to bring up those two words again; Real Madrid.

While in the press zone the 25-year-old was confronted with more questions over his future with the Parisian giants, and whether a return to Spain but this time with Barça’s great enemy was viable.

Neymar in turn stormed out, fuming at the spotlight being taken off his glorious night on the field.

2) Lille lose patience with El Loco

That Marcelo Bielsa is an eccentric fellow shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone with a passing interest in European football.

Known to meticulously document every detail about his players and practice sessions in color-coded spreadsheets, study upcoming opponents through the medium of VCR (some of our younger readers may need to look up that term), having mastered the art of concentrating on two screens at once – God gave us two eyeballs for a reason, after all – and map out each playing surface with a measuring tape, the Oddfather of the modern game could easily be confused for a socially inept tech billionaire instead of a football manager. 

In the past, club boards have tolerated the Rosario native’s unusual behavior in exchange for results on the pitch. However, the past is the past, and (aside from Arsene Wenger) the cut-throat results business that is football makes exceptions for no man, not even one Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Jorge Sampaoli credit as the most innovative coach of his age.

Bielsa's latest run-in with his employers has earned him a "temporary suspension" from current club Lille. 

The former Athletic Club coach riled up the Ligue 1 outfit's board after traveling to Chile without permission to be by the bedside of former assistant Luis Bonini, who is battling stomach cancer.

Sports Burst's inner cynic thinks the real reason behind the LOSC HR department's intervention is more likely to do with the team sitting second from bottom having collected a paltry 13 points form a possible 39. 

3) It’s Thursday, and that means Europe League 

By no means a basement competition anymore, the Europa League groups stages are drawing near to a close and some crucial games are upon us.

In fact, beIN SPORTS has a whole raft of them - for the lovely people in Canada. Send out games include Everton’s tie with Atalanta, which was quite the mailing for the Toffees in the reverse fixture. That one will be found on beIN SPORTS 3, while Rosenberg take on Real Sociedad are on the same channel earlier on.

Zenit St Petersburg are impressing many this season in the European League and their home game with whipping boys Vardar could see them flex their muscles once again. You’ll find that one via beIN SPORTS 7!

4) The Heat extinguish the Celtic’s hot streak

What do the Boston Celtic’s 16-game winning streak and Tony Montana have in common? Both met their demise in Miami. While Kyrie Irving and co. still sit comfortably atop the Eastern Conference, for one night at least, the Heat exposed them as mere mortals with a 104-98 win.

Elsewhere, with a face like a clenched fist, Russell Westbrook brought the high-flying Golden State Warriors crashing down to earth. Using his running feud with former buddy Kevin Durant for inspiration, the OKC point guard ended his night with 34 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

The Nets left Cleveland empty-handed, but the result was overshadowed LeBron James somehow construing to miss a wide-open dunk. Shock horror!

 
Lonzo Ball now has a poster to his name, however, his impressive alley-oop at the expense of Willie Cauley-Stein wasn’t enough to earn the Lakers a win in Sacramento.

WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?

The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.