Messi declared GOAT after Wembley wonder-show 

Well. No-one came out of Wednesday's Champions League matches in CRISIS! like Manchester United and Real Madrid the day before. So it's time for Sports Burst to spread a little love and enthusiasm for once. 

Although Neymar certainly got the juices flowing with a rampant performance and hattrick against Red Star Belgrade in a 6-1 win for PSG, Lionel Messi went on to woo the world once again by taking apart Tottenham with two goals. Wednesday, and everyone is still swooning. 

"He's unbelievable," sighed Spurs fullback, Kieran Trippier, "when he's in that form he's magic to watch."

"I feel blessed I was in the stadium to watch him," said former Manchester United man, Rio Ferdinand. 

The city of Barcelona was pretty enthusiastic two with sports daily, Mundo Deportivo praising "Wembleo" and Sport just stating in English - 'The King'.

Find out what our Gabrielle Amado and Andres Cordero make of all this on our throbbingly good new Sports Burst show on Facebook Live at 12PM ET / 9PM PT. 

Europa League returns but Arsenal star in exile 

Soccer fans around the planet woke up with a spring in the step on Thursday, knowing that the Europa League's return was just hours away with 24 tantalizing tussles to enjoy. From Sarpsborg 08 to Slavia Prague, excitement levels have been turned to 7,645. 

However, grim reality has crept into Arsenal's visit to take on Qarabag. Gunners midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, was left behind in London for the trip to Armenia due to frosty relations and then some between his native Azerbaijan and Armenia, the home of the hosts. 

Qarabag coach, Gurban Gurbanov, said that Arsenal had "tried to save" the footballer from the "pressure" of playing in Baku. 

Worth mentioning at this point that the Europa League final is, of course, being played in Baku. 

The XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT is the place to be for all the best highlights of the day's action from the Old Country.  

USWNT begins World Cup qualifying journey 

Qualifying begins today for the US women's national team in soccer as it begins its defense of the World Cup title. Rather than a two-year odyssey ending in dismal failure suffered by the men's team, this process could be over in a matter of days. 

The 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship starting today in the US will take care of everything. 

Eight teams from the region have been divided into two groups of four. The US has been paired with Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Panama. The top two of each group will play in the semifinals. The winner of those will automatically qualify for France 2019, along with the winner of the third-place playoff. 

The US kicks off against Mexico tonight in Cary, North Carolina. 

Jordi Alba continues to be blanked by Spain 

Well, Jordi Alba certainly did something to upset Luis Enrique during their spell together as player and coach respectively at Barcelona. The fullback has once again been left of a Spain squad by Enrique, who announced his list for upcoming matches against Wales and England. 

Valencia's Gaya, Marcos Alonso and Watford's Jonny Otto were the preferred footballers who can play in Alba's position. Elsewhere, Paco Alcacer returns to the fold after good form with Borussia Dortmund. The striker takes of the place of the injured Diego Costa, who picked up a knock in Atletico's Champions League win over Club Bruges. 

Cristiano Ronaldo - currently embroiled in a sexual assault accusation case from 2009 - is missing Portugal's international window as a request to help him adapt to life in Serie A with Juve.