Sports Burst - PSG's Bad, Good Day?
A good day for PSG will still be a bad day as a club in crisis faces threats on Wednesday both on and off the pitch
By Tim Stannard
PSG faces Metz to avoid historically bad start to the season as club awaits suspension news on Neymar and Angel di Maria
There are three ways for Wednesday to end for PSG - reasonably badly, badly and very badly.
Being happy-go-lucky by nature, Sports Burst is going to start off with the best-case scenario.
Television footage will prove that Neymar's accusations of racism against Alvaro Gonzalez are justified and Angel di Maria will be pardoned for spitting in the direction of the Marseille defender, despite the Argentinean having just recovered from COVID-19.
The 'badly' scenario still involves a win for PSG against Metz but hefty suspensions handed down to all four PSG players, including a potential seven-match ban for Neymar for violent conduct in the player's sending off against Marseille, but Angel di Maria let off the hook. In this scenario there would be no conclusive evidence to support Neymar's allegations against Alvaro.
Time for the 'very badly' scenario. This involves a defeat to struggling Metz, the first time that PSG would lose its first three opening games of the season ever and the first time to lose three Ligue 1 games in a row in just over ten years.
This could be partnered by a hefty ban for Neymar and evidence of homophobic slurs towards Alvaro Gonzalez from the Brazilian that the TV cameras at Sunday's game reportedly picked up. Oh, and a ban for di Maria that could potentially last months for spitting at a really, really, really bad time to do so.
The Sports Burst live show will be beaming into Paris at 12PM ET to preview an immense day for PSG and also ponder why French Football Federation President Noel Le Graet thought it would be a tremendous idea to opine that racism barely exists in football. Head to our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page and beIN XTRA channel.
PSG vs. Metz is live on beIN SPORTS today from 2:50PM ET.
Real Madrid hopes to finally have a Bale-out
In contrast, Wednesday could end up being a really good day for Real Madrid...specifically, Coach Zizou.
The French manager might end up taking a huge step in getting rid of a longstanding headache in the team - Gareth Bale.
Bale's agent, Jonathan Barnett, has told the BBC that a move to Tottenham is very much on the cards. "Gareth still loves Spurs," declared Barnett, "it's where he wants to be." Bale might get his latest desire with a loan move from Real Madrid, with the LaLiga club paying some of the Welshman's enormous salary.
However, Sports Burst was rather surprised to hear this confession as the same person has been all with the righteous, fake news, angry denials in the past about his client moving from Real Madrid, even declaring in July that "he likes living in Madrid and he is going nowhere."
Heck, there could be a double deal with Jose Mourinho this week with Sergio Reguilon also set for a move to the Premier League in a deal worth $35 million to Real Madrid for the leftback who was on loan to Sevilla last season.
Real Madrid's LaLiga campaign gets underway on Sunday with a humdinger of a clash at Real Sociedad that is live on beIN SPORTS with coverage beginning at 2:30PM ET.
Koeman admits defeat in Suarez exit plans
Not so good news for Ronald Koeman at Barcelona - but not in the PSG category of bad news for Wednesday.
The Dutchman may have told Luis Suarez that he was not wanted at the Camp Nou, but his wish looks set to remain unfulfilled with an admission from Koeman to Fox Sport that it's likely the Uruguayan forward will remain at Barcelona. Along with everyone else.
"We'll have the same group this season as we have now," admitted Koeman, who is expected to field Suarez in a friendly against Girona on Wednesday.
That means that there is no chance of Memphis Depay coming to the Camp Nou from Lyon with Barcelona having to sell before it can buy, a notion supported by Lyon's president. "The president of Barcelona told me on Sunday that Barcelona were suffering a lot from the COVID-19 crisis and had no possibility of making an offer," said Jean-Michel Aulas.
On a final note before signing off, the Copa Libertadores continues on Wednesday night with six matches in action, and all six across the beIN SPORTS network.
