Gareth Bale in mic-dropping Real Madrid confession

Gareth Bale has been in tension-releasing mode on Monday ahead of his team's defence of the Champions League and an attempt at a historic four-peat of the title. 

The topics that the Welshman wanted to get off his magnificent chest included his overhead-kick special in the 2018 final being missed off a top-ten UCL goals list. "They need to be sacked," half-joked Bale on the judging panel. 

Being left on the bench for the clash against Liverpool did not go down well at all either. "I was quite angry to be honest," roared Bale, but all that pent-up emotion seems to have dissipated a little with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. 

"I suppose there is more of a team, more working as one unit rather than one player." admitted Bale, revealing that there is a more relaxed atmosphere at Real Madrid now. 

Catch up with the biggest issues of the weekend on the Locker Room at 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT. 

Monday managerial moves in Serie A?

With only Juventus and Napoli doing what they are supposed to be doing in Serie A so far this season - winning games - the vultures are already circling around three coaches. 

Number one in the literal pecking order is Inter's Luciano Spalletti whose team spent big over the summer but are just three places above the relegation zone after a home defeat to Parma. 

Antonio Conte is reported to be a possible replacement at Inter...or even Milan, a team that is also struggling on the same tally of four points as Inter, although with one less game played. 

"It makes me laugh to hear people say we are the second or third top team in Serie A," fumed Gennaro Gattuso after a 1-1 draw with Cagliari. 

Even Eusebio Di Francesco is under pressure at Roma with his team picking up just the single win so far this season. Owner, James Pallotta is reportedly viewing his team's next three games with interest - and that run starts with Real Madrid on Wednesday. 

Celta Vigo has chance to sneak into second 

The return of the Champions League is still a whole day away, so what fun awaits on Monday to fill the soccer void?

Well, the Premier League is making a foray with a Monday night match-up between Southampton and Brighton, which is already shaping up as a mid-table battle. 

A hefty five-goal margin win for Celta Vigo against Girona would actually put the La Liga side into second place above Girona in today's clash in Spain. Or a defeat would move the team down and allow Getafe into the Champions League places. Yes, Getafe. 

That encounter is live on beIN SPORTS at 2:50PM ET / 11:50AM PT. 

You can catch the best of the action of those games as well as everything else from Monday around the world on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT. 

NFL wraps up a fairly weird weekend 

The NFL went a little bit into Bizarro-World on Sunday. 

The Miami Dolphins are top of the AFC East after two wins from two. And that means that the New England Patriots aren't, after Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the franchise most likely to be moved across the Atlantic one day. 

Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, cut quite the figure in the post-match media blast. 

Oh, and a player retired from the sport. At half-time. That player was Vontae Davis of the Buffalo Bills who "had an honest moment with myself" with his team 28-6 down to the Los Angeles Chargers. 

The round wraps up on Monday with the Seattle Seahawks at the Chicago Bears.