A tale of three Croatians in Madrid

Not to be outdone by Barcelona, a club that brilliantly contrived to have two transfer stories over the weekend involving a player called A. Vidal – one coming in and one going away – the fine city of Madrid is offering up a tale of not one, not two, but three Croatians on Tuesday.

Turning to Real Madrid first and the gossip for Marca concerns midfielder, Mateo Kovacic, who is set to join Chelsea on loan this week. The World Cup finalist is reportedly unhappy at a lack of playing time with Real Madrid that saw just 10 starts in La Liga last season. The team’s other Croatian – Luka Modric – is due back in training on Wednesday and the first appointment for the Ballon d’Or contender will be to meet Florentino Perez for either a) a transfer request to Inter or b) a nice hefty pay rise please!

The third Croatian on Tuesday’s agenda is a striker, Nikola Kalinic, the player who left the Croatia camp in a huff at the start of the World Cup only to miss a historic run to the final. The Milan man is on his way to Atletico Madrid to try and display the kind of mental and physical fortitude the Croatian failed to offer in Russia.

Sports Burst ushers you in the direction of our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page at 12PM ET / 9AM PT – or watch back at your leisure – for our daily Transfer Tracker show.

Courtois in Stamford Bridge sulk

The other big transfer story of the day concerns Thibaut Courtois. The Chelsea player did not train on Monday to spark off a frenzy of rumors that the keeper was going to jump ship to Real Madrid. According to the Sun, the Belgian has missed a second day of training and will now have to attend a disciplinary meeting with Chelsea. Good luck with that one.

Elsewhere in the transfer rumor mill and Memo Ochoa is getting closer and closer to Napoli, the big club move that the Mexican goalkeeper probably deserves by now. Manchester United’s Juan Mata could be off to Inter – isn’t everyone these days? – Victor Wanyama will be swapping Tottenham for Roma, Yerry Mina will be at Everton before the EPL transfer window closes on Thursday, and poor Joe Hart has officially swapped Manchester City for Burnley.

Champions League challenge continues as Madrid face USA farewell

A group of players who are not going to be spending the day on planes or being poked by doctors will be in action on Tuesday as the Champions League continues its prequalifying phase with the start of the third qualifying round – the round before the play-offs…before the group stages.

Some of the big hitters in action are Ajax, taking on Standard Liege in a bit of a Belgian-Netherlands tussle and Fenerbahce up against Benfica.

The ICC rumbles on as well with poor old Chelsea seeing what players will be turning up for a game against Lyon and Real Madrid’s final match in the USA which is against Roma at the MetLife in East Rutherford.

The XTRA is the place to be at the special time of 10:30PM ET / 7:30PM PT for all the latest news direct from the Real Madrid camp.

Serena reveals reason for Rogers Cup absence

Not that she owes an explanation to anyone but Serena Williams took to the internet to talk about why she was not able to take part in the Rogers Cup currently taking part place in Montreal, Canada. In a candid Instagram post the former world number one confessed to being “in a funk” and struggling with the pressures of being a mother – and all-round GOAT and icon. And trying to link in Infinity War with Ant Man – which is first-level Avengers knowledge.

  Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom. I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to 3 years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby. We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I’m trying to be the best athlete I can be. However, that means although I have been with her every day of her life, I’m not around as much as I would like to be. Most of you moms deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes. I’m here to say: if you are having a rough day or week--it’s ok--I am, too!!! There’s always tomm! A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Aug 6, 2018 at 3:24pm PDT

Serena would at least have been cheered by her sister moving through the first round in Canada. The live action continues on beIN SPORTS – USA only – from 11AM with Maria Sharapova continuing her first-round clash against Sesil Karatantcheva. Genie Bouchard is also in action in her tournament debut on home soil.  

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The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. Sports Burst 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.