by Tim Stannard
Gerard Pique set to win fitness race ahead of Sunday’s El Clasico
Now, Sports Burst likes a good nightmare sporting scenario as much as anyone else but Spanish sports daily, Marca, needs to recover from its attack of the vapors on Friday, take a glass of water or something stronger and retract the claim that Real Madrid are playing for the "entire season" on Sunday's El Clasico. Live on beIN SPORTS with coverage underway at 1:30PM ET.
Point one. Worst case scenario, Barcelona win the match and Real Madrid are five points behind their rivals in the table. Realistic scenario - a flimsy Barca drop those points gained against any number of teams within weeks. Days, probably. And we are back where we were before with a hefty chunk of the season left.
Point two. Real Madrid still have to play a Manchester City side in the Champions League, a City team with the incredible ability to pull losing situations out of winning scenarios.
Point three. Coach Zizou does not panic despite the claims of the Barcelona papers on Friday, with suggestions that Camp Santiago Bernabeu is in complete disarray. The only time the Frenchman might get mildly flustered is when he catches James Rodriguez or Gareth Bale in his eye-line.
Point four. Get a grip everyone.
Point five. How did "Hunters" get made?
Point six. Ajax really need to get over themselves.
Point seven. Where is Mariano Diaz?
Point eight. Should Sports Burst be watching the Marvelous Mrs Maisel?
Point nine. Where is James Rodriguez?
Point ten. Parasite. Rent now or wait until it streams?
Moving on and team news from Barcelona!
Gerard Pique was back in training on Friday and should be in fine fettle to get into arguments with the Real Madrid players on Sunday.
The Barcelona stopper had picked up an ankle knock in the Champions League clash with Napoli. However, Barcelona will still be without Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto in the backline.
Join the Sports Burst live show all the way from Madrid and our Gabrielle Amado and Kaylyn Kyle bring us all the latest vibes from the Spanish capital. Head to the beIN SPORTS Facebook page or Youtube channel at 12PM ET.
Neymar continues Barca shakedown as Getafe face Inter in the Europa League
Meanwhile, Neymar is reportedly continuing his out-there technique to get Barcelona to bring him back to the Camp Nou over the summer - by suing the club.
Again.
A winning side photo with a little style... 📸🏅
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 27, 2020
🔴🔵#ICICESTPARIS pic.twitter.com/yE5dv9OlDW
The PSG lawsuit-leveler is apparently making a third case against Barcelona for unpaid fees which now makes it the grand total of $42 million being sought by Neymar against the team who he desperately wants to return to.
Round of 16 #UELdraw ✔️
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 28, 2020
Drop a GIF to sum up your reaction 📱👇 pic.twitter.com/E108TKl2kh
Onto happier things and Getafe’s might storm-quest through Europe is set to continue. The draw for the Last 16 phase of the Europa League has been made at Getafe will be taking on Inter Milan, fresh from defeating Ajax with much hullaballoo. Sevilla faces up against Roma in another tasty tie.
Real Sociedad to continue Champions League chase in LaLiga
If you are looking for a stirring start to another weekend in the company of the finest league of the world, then Friday's opener to the LaLiga schedule fits the bill.
This weekend...
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) February 28, 2020
🔥 #ElClasico 🔥#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/8niAdUpU2l
Real Sociedad are taking on Real Valladolid and a win for the hosts will see the battling Basque side moving into third and still with a match in hand over their rivals. A glorious return to the Champions League awaits for La Real? That game gets underway at 3PM ET live on beIN SPORTS.
M A T C H D A Y ⚪️ 🔵
— Olympique Marseille (@OM_English) February 28, 2020
🆚 @nimesolympique
📍 Stade des Costières
🏆 @Ligue1_ENG
📲 #NOOM
🗣 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒛 𝒍'𝑶𝑴 pic.twitter.com/7ajWUvTXvf
Over on beIN SPORTS CONNECT and Ligue Un is offering up second-place Marseille at Nimes at 2:45PM ET.
LET'S GO! #TotalCAFCL pic.twitter.com/yVZWqV72Za
— CAF (@CAF_Online) February 27, 2020
If some truly epic, stadium-bursting action is required then the CAF Champions League quarterfinals get going on Friday with a repeat of the recent Super Cup clash between Zamalek and ES Tunis at 11AM on CONNECT.
That match is followed by Raja Casablanca hosting TP Mazembe live on beIN SPORTS XTRA at 2PM following on from live top-class WTA tennis from Qatar which has reached the semifinal stages.
