By Tim Stannard

1) Starbucks rush predicted in another Champions League bore draw

There’s some bad news and really bad news to get Wednesday going, a miserable enough day of the week anyway. Tuesday’s Manchester City versus Real Madrid clash turned out to be as thrilling as a lethargic Mathew McConaughey, reading instructions on how to descale his coffee maker, although to be fair, some might enjoy that experience. The goalless draw was not exactly a thrill-fest and leaves the next tie at the Santiago Bernabeu nicely open with the ‘home form vs away goal’ debate to keep everyone going for the next week.

The other nattering point will concern the fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo, who did not make the Madrid squad, and Karim Benzema who came off injured as in last Saturday’s league game against Villarreal. Unfortunately for James Rodriguez, even if both are injured in the rematch, the Colombian still probably won’t get a start, with James apparently having run over Zinedine Zidane’s cat over the past few weeks.

2) Atletico set for another Champions League repeat performance

Anyway, back to the bad news. What the world needs now is a huge footballing pick-me-up in the second Champions League semifinal. But the what the world is going to get is Atletico Madrid trying to grind out a goalless draw against Bayern Munich before grinding out a repeat performance in Munich.

That’s not to say that what Atletico Madrid do is not admirable. After all, the team has a chance to win the Double this year, but the Rojiblancos are not always easy on the eye. But this should not stop the plucky people of Canada who can catch the game live on beIN SPORTS from 2.45PM ET. And those south of the border can see all the highlights and analysis on the XTRA from 10.00PM

3) Simeone faces rest of season on sidelines, and a missed opportunity for RB Leipzig

The day has already started badly for Atletico Madrid boss, Diego Simeone, who has been given a three match suspension in La Liga, with only three matches left to play. The Argentinean is being held responsible for a ball rolled onto the pitch by a ball boy in Saturday’s game against Malaga, in an attempt to disrupt a counter-attack from the visitors. The club has ten days to appeal.

In contrast, it has started very well for Bayern Munich’s next boss, Carlo Ancelotti, as it looks as if the Borussia Dortmund defender is moving to their Bundesliga rivals in Bavaria.  

In an alternate universe, both Bayern and Dortmund have another team at the top of the Bundesliga table, giving these big beasts a run for their euros. That team is RB Leipzig, currently in second place in Germany’s second tier, but the team’s manager admitted that they turned down the chance to sign Jamie Vardy two years ago.

4) Mamadou Sakho faces doping suspension as Detroit could be latest to sign up to MLS

Liverpool have said that they will not challenge the results of a failed drugs test from French international defender, Mamadou Sakho, with results revealing a prohibited fat-burning substance in the footballer’s system. Sakho now faces a six month or longer suspension from the game, which will see him miss the Euro 2016.  

5) MLS set to get that little bit bigger in Detroit

It seems that the MLS is set to have another expansion club – and that team is set to be in Detroit, with two NBA owners looking at coming to together to pool resources. An announcement of some kind might be made today. The next four set to integrate are Atlanta FC, Los Angeles FC and franchises in Minnesota and Miami.