By Tim Stannard

A win at Eibar would see Atletico Madrid start digging in at the top of the table to leave Real Madrid far below 

Real Madrid supporters might be feeling a little down in the dumps today after being ejected from two competitions in a week. 

Quite the feat.

But don't worry - that feeling is not going away anytime soon. A third mallet of misery might be bonking on Real Madrid heads by the end of Thursday.

Local rivals, Atletico Madrid, are playing today in LaLiga and have the chance to dig those crampons into a mountain called Glory. Atletico are currently top of the LaLiga standings with a four-point lead over Real Madrid and two games in hand. The first of those is today's visit to the Basque Country to play the Mighty Eibar.

If Sports Burst's math is correct, a victory would give Atletico a seven-point lead at the top and stiiiiiiiiil with a match in hand. 

The chances of that win are pretty high. Atletico have had a whole eight day's rest and have won 12 of their last 13 matches in LaLiga. Eibar on the other hand are hovering above the relegation zone with just the single LaLiga win in seven. 

The Rojiblancos might even be able to able introduce a new toy into the mix with Moussa Dembele in the match day squad after his loan move from Lyon.  "He's trying to adapt in the best way possible," said Diego Simeone on the routine hazing for incoming Atletico Madrid players which consists on having to defend from the halfway line for six months. 

Eibar vs. Atletico Madrid is live today on beIN SPORTS from 3:20PM ET and preceded by Valencia trying to pull itself together against Osasuna from 12:50 PM ET. 

Time ticking on Zidane's second era at Real Madrid?

Back to Real Madrid now and some sectors in Spain certainly seem to have their panic heads on today by calling the third CRISIS! of the season for Coach Zizou after a Copa del Rey exit against third-tier side, Alcoyano. 

The phrase 'embarrassment' is on the front covers of the two Madrid papers, who share a collective hive mind in terms of headlines. 

On the positive side for the French manager, the Copa del Rey exit means less games to play in a competition that has never been of much interest to the club. The last final it experienced was back in 2014. 

Secondly, Zidane now has a swift rebuttal for those who criticize him for only relying on his A-Team and not giving the understudies a spin. Well, look what happens when he does. 

But a good CRISIS! should never go to waste with stories that Zidane's 'cycle' will be coming to an end this summer, not that the French manager seems to care one way or another - "I take responsibility and whatever has to happen will happen." 

Real Madrid are back in action in LaLiga on Saturday away at Alaves from 2:30PM ET. 

Milik walks into huge mess at Marseille 

By now, Sports Burst was expecting to see the signing of Mesut Ozil for Fenerbahce - but nothing yet. Instead, the action on Thursday is to be found on the pitch with the top two in the Turkish Super Lig both playing on beIN SPORTS. 

League-leaders, Besiktas - Pride of Canada - are at Fatih Karagumruk live for free on beIN SPORTS XTRA from 8AM ET followed by Fenerbahce at Sivasspor at 11AM ET on beIN SPORTS CONNECT.

One deal that does look like getting done today though is Arkadiusz Milik joining up with Marseille from Napoli. However, that is not a happy place these days after another home defeat on Wednesday sees Andre Villas-Boas' side crashing down the Ligue 1 standings with just the one win in five.  

"I am at the disposition of the board. I am not here to bust their balls." shrugged AVB after the 1-0 loss at home to Lens which followed a 2-1 loss at home to Nimes at the weekend. 

Our coverage of the African Nations Championship continues today with two live games for free on beIN XTRA. Libya vsCongo DR kicks things off at 11AM ET followed by Congo against Niger at 2PM ET.