By Tim Stannard

1) Huge hitters drawn together in epic Champions League chase

Well, UEFA certainly spiced up their balls on Friday for the Champions League draw.

Rather than the big guns being kept apart as much as possible, the final eight sees a great divide between the have’s and the still-haves-but-not as-much-as-the-have’s. Hence, if Real Madrid are going to become the first team to retain the trophy, the Spanish outfit are going to have to squeeze past Bayern Munich, a club managed a Carlo Ancelotti, a figure once fired by Real Madrid, despite winning the Champions League for them. “I learned a lot from Carlo, he’s a great person and we know what he achieved here,” said Coach Zizou speaking ahead of Real Madrid’s Saturday clash against Athletic in San Mames.

Barcelona have quite the stern test too, facing the seemingly impenetrable and sensible Juventus, runaway leaders of Serie A, in what will be a repeat of the 2015 final.

2) Leicester rewarded with trip to Vicente Calderon

In the ‘minnows’ paring, Leicester City have been given a curious clash against Atletico Madrid – finalists twice in the past three years to be fair – while the hipsters will be in heaven with Borussia Dortmund taking on Monaco. Tune into the Locker Room from 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT as our guests rub their crystal pairings and predict the final four.

3) More moans from Mourinho as Anderlecht drawn in Europa League

The Europa League quarterfinals were also drawn…drum roll…and Manchester United are playing…Anderlecht! Yay! Celta play Genk, Oh god. This is depressing. These are the four games.

But speaking of Manchester United and something a little juicier, Jose Mourinho has been in ranting mode on Friday morning saying that the Premier League don’t give an ‘s’ about English clubs in European competition and helping them out with the fixtures. Manchester United are playing Middlesbrough on Sunday, 62 hours after the end of Thursday’s Rostov clash and the Man Utd boss would like a little more wiggle room, despite being aware of the billions poured into the club’s coffers by the EPL to pay for the likes of Paul Pogba. "That is true and we appreciate it. But you can just have a little touch. Nobody can explain why we are playing at 12 o'clock." Mourinho then went on to admit that United would “probably” lose the game.

4) Championship promotion chase continues

Whilst all those clashes are taking place a good three weeks away in the mists of April, there is red hot beIN SPORTS football action to kick off Friday.

Heading up the day is a weird-these-days Las Palmas hosting a Champions League-chasing Villarreal in a battle of the yellow teams. That probably won’t catch on in terms of marketing. That game gets going on beIN SPORTS CONNECT from 3:45PM ET / 12:45PT.

Some top Championship action is up front and personal on the main channel with Huddersfield launching a bid to reach the top two automatic promotion places against Bristol City. The big game in Ligue Un pairs Lille against Marseille. Highlights of all these matches and the rest of Friday’s games across the world will be on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

5) Milan man makes return to Spain fold three-years later

Spain’s squad for the upcoming international games – a World Cup qualifier against Israel – and also a friendly against France was released on Friday. Sparkling form for Milan sees Gerard Deulofeu making a return after a sole appearance three-years-ago. Real Sociedad midfielder – and former Real Madrid man – Asier Illaramendi is called up to the 25-man squad. There is no place for Juan Mata although Manchester United colleague Ander Herrera has been brought into the fold.

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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. 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.