Sports Burst – Zizou: No Regrets
Clasico echoes, Conte’s clincher and Serena hits back
By Tim Stannard
1) Zidane would change nothing about Clasico calamity
For too long, Coach Zizou has been as cool as a cucumber Real Madrid, with the testy, head-butting, elbow-throwing version of the footballer he could sometimes be, tucked deep inside the Frenchman’s psyche. But that snuck out a little on Tuesday with Zidane speaking to the press ahead of Wednesday’s away clash against Deportivo in La Liga, with el Clasico still being the main topic of conversation. Funnily enough. “I would not have done anything different, we lost and that’s it” was Zidane’s response to requests for his post-defeat reflections. But that was after Zizou had huffed to the press that “so now, Barcelona are going to win La Liga and we are worth nothing.”
In actual football news, the Madrid manager revealed that Raphael Varane (25 today!) is back in action – just in time to replace the suspended Sergio Ramos – and that Gareth Bale could be out for the next three weeks with yet another injury. The calf this time.
2) Enrique backs Messi in Bernabeu goal-boast
Luis Enrique was in his usual mood on Tuesday despite Sunday’s victory – terse, moody, and desperate to get out of the room. Amongst a series of topics specifically designed to irritate the Barcelona boss ahead of Wednesday’s Camp Nou clash against Osasuna was a question on whether Leo Messi’s goal celebration in the match-winner was provocative.
“It seemed nice and perfectly fine to me,” was the response from Enrique who refused to be drawn in on who is favorite to win the title. “I don’t know, I’m not a fortune teller,” said Enrique not unreasonably. Tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM PT for all the latest news from both Madrid and Barcelona. And then tune in again from 1:20PM ET / 10:20PM PT for the Barca and Real Madrid games back-to-back. Scratch that, tune in today as La Liga returns into action with Atletico Madrid hosting Villarreal from 3:30PM ET / 11:30AM PT on beIN CONNECT.
3) Chelsea’s big Premier League chance
There could be a bit movement in the Premier League this week. Indeed, that movement might well end up with Chelsea all but crowned champions in the first year of Antonio Conte at the helm. There are five catch-up games being played, the first of which being Tuesday’s Stamford Bridge clash for Chelsea against visiting Southampton.
A win would temporarily put Chelsea ahead of Spurs in second by seven points, with Tottenham in action on Wednesday against the very in-form Crystal Palace. “It would be my greatest achievement,” admitted Conte on Monday dreaming of Spurs doing a Spurs and handing Chelsea an early title gift. Tune into the XTRA for all the best EPL highlights from 7PMET / 4PM PT.
4) Serena hits back at nasty Nastase
One of the uglier stories in tennis arose over the weekend with the appalling comments from former world number one and now Romania Federations Cup captain Ilie Nastase who was heard speculating whether Serena Williams’ child would be “chocolate with milk.” ✊🏿 A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Apr 24, 2017 at 12:58pm PDT The International Tennis Federation are to investigate the comments from Nastase and the governing body has the full backing of Serena Williams on an Instagram post which responds to the affair. "Yes, we have broken down so many barriers - however there are a plethora more to go.”
5) Stuttgart tennis tussles start
On a more agreeable tennis theme, the WTA Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is well underway on beIN SPORTS – full coverage every day from 6AM ET / 3AM PT – which means the sport is just a day away from one of the biggest stories of the week, the return of Maria Sharapova after a lengthy suspension through failing a doping test at the 2016 Australian Open.
But ahead of all that, Tuesday’s stand out clash has eighth-seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, in action against Ekaterina Makarova.
WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?
The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB 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.