Sports Burst - Real Madrid's Groundhog Day
Bill Murray v Tom Cruise debate breaks out as Santiago Solari faces another Clasico do-over on Saturday after a Copa del Rey crushing
by Tim Stannard
Madrid press looks at quality of finishing as difference in Barcelona's Copa del Rey win over Real Madrid
A bit of a discussion broke out in the Sports Burst live studios on Wednesday awaiting the special post-match gabfest on the beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page - every day at 12PM ET!.
With Barcelona returning to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid on Saturday just three days after Wednesday's 3-0 home defeat in the Copa del Rey, was Santiago Solari facing a movie-style Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow?
Basically, the chance to have a do-over where all those missed chances go in and Barcelona are vanquished to reduce the gap at the top of the La Liga table to just six points? Or be Tom Cruise repeatedly being wiped out in increasingly hapless and hilarious ways?
The message from Solari was the former with the Madrid manager contending that Madrid "fell with honor" in the defeat that sends Barcelona through to the Copa del Rey final. And that was the vibe from the Madrid press on Thursday which sees the difference in the two teams as being one that was able to finish, and other that had Gareth Bale.
The Sports Burst live show from Madrid returns at 12PM ET / 9AM PT to look back at the night before.
Valencia and Betis face-off to be beaten by Barcelona in Copa del Rey final
The Copa del Rey drama is not over...not by a long shot. A second semifinal second leg is taking place live on beIN SPORTS at 3PM ET / 12PM PT with Valencia hosting Betis.
The tussle is currently tied at 2-2 from the first leg, and that is no surprise for Valencia at least, a team that has contrived to draw 15 games in La Liga this season. But only one team can progress from the Mestalla Thunderdome to be beaten by Barcelona in the final to be held in Betis' ground.
The final qualifying game of the Copa Libertadores early stages takes place on Thursday. Melgar, Palestino, and Atletico Mineiro have all passed through to the group stages that get underway on Tuesday.
2016 winners Atletico Nacional will hope to join them but have work to do to cut back a 1-0 deficit from the first leg against Libertad.
That game gets underway on beIN SPORTS CONNECT at 7:20PM ET / 4:20PM PT.
Ranieri faces sack after another EPL failure with Fulham
The Premier League might be unleashing its second sacking of the week today.
First to go at the weekend was Claude Puel at Leicester City. Next up? Claudio Ranieri and - hot link alert - who was also sacked by Leicester City back in the day but now faces the chop by Fulham on Thursday according to the Daily Mail.
Talks are set to take place between Fulham's bosses and Ranieri, after a defeat at Southampton on Wednesday left the Cottagers second-from-bottom of the table and 10 points from safety.
The big winner from Wednesday's round of games was another old club for Ranieri and Chelsea. The team is once again run by a veteran Italian in Maurizio Sarri but sailed through some smoother waters against Tottenham with a 2-0 win in a match that saw Kepa outcast to the bench for his goalkeeper's substitution insurrection. "Kepa made a big mistake and paid with the club," said Sarri.