By Tim Stannard

Messi back in action after Argentina injury attack

It’s a miracle! Call the Archbishop, or however that kind of stuff works.

Lionel Messi is suddenly ready to play football again despite being so hamstrung – quiet literally – for the past week that the Barcelona man could not put on the heavy, heavy shirt of Argentina and participate in Tuesday’s shellacking by Spain.

Messi was back with his club on Thursday and the rarified airs of Barcelona seemed to have done the trick. The footballer was happily trotting about the practice pitch with Mundo Deportivo reporting that the player will be available to take on Sevilla on Saturday and should be fighting fit for next week’s Barcelona’s Champions League quarterfinal clash with Roma.

Tis true, that they broke the miracle mold when Leo Messi was made. Tune into the XTRA on 7PM ET / 4PM PT as beIN SPORTS ramps up for the weekend when club football returns.

Zlatan ready for debut in LA derby day

LA Galaxy coach, Sigi Schmid, joked earlier in the week that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was superhuman and that looks like being the case with a strong chance that the incoming Swede will be making his debut for His new MLS side on Saturday, against new local rivals LAFC.

Now what makes that feat really impressive is that Zlatan is jetting into Los Angeles on Thursday, training for the first time with His team on Friday and then playing on Saturday. Of course, the only person who really gets to decide whether this happens is Sigi Schmid. Only kidding. It’s King Zlatan with His word being the final one over His destiny. However, just the for the entertainment factor and pretense, Schmid pretended he was in charge of Zlatan’s fate. “We have to see how He is physically and everything else."

Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT where Mr MLS himself, Phil Schoen, will predict Zlatan’s destiny with the Galaxy.

A Bould move for Arsenal as Conte counts on Morata  

Thursday sees the Premier League managers looking ahead to the weekend’s action. And former player and current assistant coach at Arsenal, Steve Bould, got to play the Sarah Huckabee Sanders role to Arsene Wenger’s Trump when asked about the future of the Frenchman on the Arsenal bench with Wenger having lost his voice.

"I admire him immensely. He takes unbelievable stick off a lot of people but he is one of the great managers and it is a pleasure to sit next to him." Arsenal face Stoke City on Sunday.

Antonio Conte was also speaking ahead of Chelsea’s home visit of Tottenham on Sunday. And the Italian had glad tidings over the previously lackluster Alvaro Morata. "He has been working very well, and he needed to work hard. Now he is really fit and is ready to have an important end to the season for Chelsea."

Tune into the the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT where our experts will try to predict the destinies of Europe’s five big leagues as the final run-in gets underway.

Venus out of Miami, but dream continues for Collins

Bad news, good news for US tennis fans in the women’s bracket on Wednesday night at the Miami Open.

Venus Williams fell at the quarter-final stages of the Miami Open to a qualifier. However, that qualifier was a fellow American in the form of Danielle Collins who won 6-2, 6-3 and now faces Jelena Ostapenko on today’s semi-final. The other half of the final four also features an American with Sloane Stephens on the comeback trail after last year’s US Open win. Stephens is taking on Victoria Azarenka.

The final two quarter-final pairings take place in Miami in the men’s bracket with Pablo Carreno Busta taking on Kevin Anderson and Alexander Zverev facing Borna Coric. They will be looking to join Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner in the semis.

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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.