By Tim Stannard

Joan Laporta begins work in second spell as Barcelona president and it's game-on in LaLiga after the Madrid Derby draw

Sunday saw the members and voters of Barcelona football club jumping into a metaphorical DeLorean, hitting 88-miles-an-hour and hoping for the best. 

Joan Laporta came out as the winner in a game-changing presidential poll by picking up 54.28% of the votes in a three-person election. 

Laporta is becoming Barcelona president for the second time. His first rodeo at the Camp Nou began in 2003 and saw two eras being built - The Time of Ronaldinho and The Time of Messi and Pep. The Time of Ansu Fati perhaps begins on Monday although the topic of Messi and his contract renewal was still the biggest theme. 

"Leo loves Barcelona," said Laporta after the footballer cast his own vote in the elections on Sunday for the first time, "and this is significant and hopefully it will serve to encourage him to stay."

On the positive tick sheet, Barcelona are very much alive in LaLiga after Sunday's Madrid Derby draw puts the club just three points off Atletico with one game extra played. There is a Copa del Rey final to come in April. The Champions League? Unlikely.

Another crop of talented young players is coming through with ages ranging from 18 through to 23 - Ansu Fati, Pedri, Francisco Trincao, Illaix Moriba, Riqui Puig, Frenkie De Jong, Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest, Roland Araujo and Ousmane Dembele.

Messi is more likely to stay with Barcelona having picked up some silverware this season and working under a club president he knows and trusts.

However the hard work for Laporta is in the accounts. The club owes around $1.5 billion and will need to sell, sell, sell in a transfer market this summer where not a lot of cash is floating around for some footballers like Philippe Coutinho, who will be difficult to shift. 

The Sports Burst live show will be looking forward to Barcelona's future, both immediate and in the long, long distance of this summer. Head to our beIN XTRA channel at 11AM ET. 

Atletico are back in action with catch-up clash 

Sunday's Madrid Derby was merely part one in a key week in the LaLiga title race. Part two is coming up fast on Wednesday when Atletico Madrid take on what has been referred to as The Game in Hand. That match is a home match against Athletic Club taking place at 1PM ET - live, live, live on beIN SPORTS. 

A win would give Atletico Madrid a bit of breathing space by opening up a six-point gap on Barcelona and eight on Real Madrid. Obviously, it could have been a heck of a lot better than that, had Atletico's defense held for a few more minutes against Karim Benzema. But it was not to be. "The final road is going to be very difficult for everyone" warned Simeone after the match. 

However, the current round of LaLiga is not yet over with a rejuvenated Betis pushing their way into the European places with a home clash against Alaves today live on beIN SPORTS CONNECT at 3PM ET. 

beIN SPORTS has a Coupe de France treat with Nice hosting Marseille at 3PM ET while the Turkish Super Lig wraps up the weekend live at 11AM with Fenerbahce at Konyaspor. 

Sampaoli starts from rock bottom after cup calamity

When Jorge Sampaoli properly gets his hands on the Marseille team on Tuesday after a period of quarantine is complete, the Argentinean coach will be working from absolute rock bottom.

On Sunday, Marseille was knocked out of the Coupe de France by fourth division side, Canet Roussillon, in a performance branded by Boubacar Kamara as "a disgrace. There are no words, we did s*** and we have to own up to it."

The man branded by France Football as El Loco 2 in reference to Marcelo Bielsa who had a fiery spell in Marseille will be presented by the Ligue 1 giants on Tuesday and just a day later will take on his first challenge - a catch-up league match against Rennes, that is live on beIN XTRA at 1PM ET.