By Tim Stannard

1) Madrid to make move to bench Benzema 

Just a day after Coach Zizou gave his gallic backing to his compatriot in the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity, there might well be a revolution at the Santiago Bernabeu with Karim Benzema being moved towards the football guillotine. 

Mixed historical metaphors aside, Thursday’s Marca is reporting that the club have decided to move on a forward this winter window to find a striker who can give the mis-firing Frenchman competition, or relegate Benzema, who is perpetually injured or out of form, to the bench. 

The possibilities? Mauro Icardi of Inter Milan, Alexis Sanchez or Red Bull Leipzig’s Timo Werner - a strong rising star of the European hotshot world - are the three candidates being boosted by the paper. 

By happenstance, Real Madrid are back in action on Thursday in the club’s first clash after el Clasico, which did not go particularly well for the team. A trip to second division Numancia in a first-leg Copa del Rey clash will be an opportunity for the less glamorous Borja Mayoral to take a claim as the true heir to Karim Benzema’s number nine spot. 

Dust off your screen, plump up your sofa cushions or office chair and catch Numancia v Real Madrid, live on beIN SPORTS from 2:55PM ET / 11:55AM PT. 

2) Dembele set for Barcelona reboot 

Great Caesar’s ghost, Barcelona are in action two in a double-decker sandwich of football delight! 

It’s Copa del Rey time too for the Catalan club with a tricky trip to take on Celta Vigo, who have historically given Barcelona problems in recent years. However, the Ernesto Valverde ship is a solid as they come and currently unbeaten. However, football is of secondary interest apparently at Barca these days with the transfer business of Philippe Coutinho dominating the media landscape. 

And the huge news on Thursday is that…nothing has happened, with Liverpool reportedly yet to receive any kind of bid for the La Liga leaders and in no hurry to sell their brilliant Brazilian. 

But on the footballing front, the Celta match might see a return for Ousmane Dembele, who has been out since September. The footballer is included in a squad that is missing Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and even Paco Alcacer. Tune into beIN SPORTS live at 12:55PM ET / 9:55AM PT to find out if the fiery Frenchman can reboot his Barcelona career after the forward’s $125 million move from Borussia Dortmund last summer. 

Catch the best of the action and reaction in the Copa del Rey on the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM PT, your daily home for the beautiful game. 

3) Torino ditch boss as Everton move for Tosun

TRANSFER TRACKER time! Well, it’s a bit loose with the terminology today with sackings being thrown into the mix. 

Torino’s Italian cup defeat to Juventus on Wednesday has seen Sinisa Mihajlovic lose his job. The Turin club have moved quickly to replace the Serbian with Walter Mazzarri in talks to take over. Torino currently lie tenth in Serie A.

Inter boss, Luciano Spalletti has said that he does not fear an exodus of stars this winter – including Icardi to Real Madrid. But a former Inter forward could be making a return to the limelight with La Galaxy and MLS legend, Robbie Keane making an emotional return to Championship leaders Wolves to help in their Premier League promotion push.

Everton have agreed a deal with Besiktas for striker Cenk Tosun thought to be in the region of $30m. The Turkish forward has eight Superlig goals in 16 appearances. 

4) Murray ditches trip Down Under as Sharapova marches on

Tennis time! A lot to get through here. Andy Murray has officially withdrawn from the upcoming Australian Open, as has Kei Nishikori. Novak Djokovic is considering it despite six months out to fix a knocked elbow. A decision will be taken after a couple of warm-up tournaments. 

ATP tennis continues right now on beIN SPORTS with live coverage from Doha of the Exxon Mobil Open. Thursday’s big clash sees number one seed Dominic Thiem in action. 

In the busy world of women’s tennis, Maria Sharapova moved into the Shenzhen semifinals with a victory over Zarina Dyas. The Russian will be in action live on beIN SPORTS CONNECT 9 with coverage beginning at 1AM ET / 10PM PT. beIN SPORTS is also bringing extensive live action from Auckland and Brisbane. 

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