By Tim Stannard

Zidane faces Basque battle against Eibar  

 “If I lose to Eibar I will be the worst coach in the world.” Welcome back to live in La Liga Coach Zizou!

After high praise after Real Madrid’s Champions League win over PSG on Wednesday, Zinedine Zidane was in musing action on Friday realizing that a manager at the Bernabeu club is only as good as his last result. The team’s Jekyll and Hyde season continues on Saturday in an away clash against tiny Eibar and a venue that is a million miles away from the pomp and majesty of the Parc de Princes.

In many ways, that comparison sums up the season in La Liga for Real Madrid, a team who look odds on for a third successive Champions League win, but could well fall eighteen points behind Barcelona in La Primera and into fourth spot if matters go pear-shaped in the Basque Country. “It is tough when you are so far behind,” admitted Zidane.

Friday’s pre-match press conference ticked all the boxes in Real Madrid bingo – Cristiano Ronaldo, critics of Karim Benzema, why Gareth Bale is on the bench and lastly if the club is going to sign Neymar. “When they paid all that money for me, I was shocked” admitted Zidane on his fee of 77 million euro back in 2001 after speculating that the next fee for a footballer like Neymar could be upwards of $400 million.

Real Madrid are taking on Eibar in the wee small hours of Saturday morning at 7AM ET / 4AM PT on beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS CONNECT

Reports of Neymar seeking sneaking return to Barcelona

If this story is true, then it will break the space-time continuum. Thankfully, it almost certainly hogwash with extra sauce on top.

That story is the one being touted by Spanish paper, Mundo Deportivo, that Neymar has kindly offered to move back to Barcelona this summer, should the Catalan club want the footballer. Apparently, this took place before PSG’s Champions League exit.

The reasons why this is most certainly a pile of poopy diapers are many. Firstly, PSG would not sell him. And Barcelona could neither afford to get the Brazilian back, having blown the cash from his sale already, and probably wouldn’t want to see his trouble-making face around the Camp Nou anytime soon. And lastly. It won’t happen. Aside from that…all good.

Tune into the Locker Room on Friday at 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT for all the fallout from the Champions League action and a look at the weekend to come.

Roma looking for top day against Torino

Midweek is over…and the weekend is here! Which means hot Friday action, and beIN SPORTS in particular is serving up an all-you-can-eat buffet of wonders. Sitting pride of place on beIN SPORTS at 2:40PM ET / 11:40AM PT, it’s a Serie A sizzler between a Torino and Roma side currently in third and feeling pumped and primed after last week’s win over Napoli.  Roma are without the suspended Edin Dzeko, so look out for a rare appearance from the oft-injured Patrik Schick.

beIN SPORTS Espanyol will be offering Girona against a Deportivo side led by Clarence Seedorf and desperately seeking a win to help in a relegation battle. That’s underway at 3PM ET / 12PM PT. Ligue Un is bringing second place Monaco to the table against Strasbourg. Head to beIN SPORTS CONNECT 3 for that doozy. In the Bundesliga, the huge surprise package of Schalke are looking to cement second spot away at struggling Mainz. In Turkey, Istanbul Basaksehir can return to the top of the Superlig table with a victory over Alanyaspor.

The XTRA is your one-stop shop for the best of the action from around the world of soccer at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

Serena makes winning return to the court

Serena Williams is back in business. Just six months after giving birth and suffering life-threatening complications after, the US tennis legend won her first-round clash at Indian Wells, defeating Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas in a 7-5 6-3 victory. The clash was the first WTA Tour game for Williams in 14-months.

"It definitely wasn't easy but it was good," admitted the 23-times Grand Slam champion who claimed that she was feeling a touch rusty during the clash. Unsurprisingly. Another US winner from Thursday’s action was the rising star CiCi Bellis. Another top US player is in action on Friday with Coco Vandeweghe facing Kaia Kanepi from Estonia in a second-round encounter.