Sports Burst - Madrid Beckons Amid Ronaldo's Turin Turmoil
A wall-punching tantrum from Ronaldo will further spark rumors of a summer return to Real Madrid
By Tim Stannard
Coach Zizou has up-front concerns over how many players are left to cover double-duty in LaLiga and the Champions League
Over in Turin on Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo was apparently having a bit of a tantrum. Although his Juventus side won 3-1 in the Serie A against Genoa, CR7 was in jersey-throwing mode and reportedly punching the locker room wall while giving his teammates and the media the silent treatment.
While this foul mood could have stemmed from his cable company missing yet another window to fix his broadband service, the chattering classes suggest that it is further evidence that Ronaldo is not happy with life with the Old Lady - which is about to lose its Serie A title - and wants to join the Clasico-winning Expendables of Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos at Real Madrid.
This will be yet another question for Coach Zizou to ponder on Tuesday while the French manager is in Liverpool, ahead of Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal, second-leg clash. However, Zidane's immediate concern will be having enough players in the game to hang on to a 3-1 lead from the first leg.
Lucas Vazquez now looks out for the season to make life tricky on the right flank. Sergio Ramos is still on the sidelines and who knows what is going on with Eden Hazard. It's no wonder that Zidane sighed after El Clasico that "I don't know how we are going to finish the season, physically we are at the limit."
The Locker Room will try and answer that question as it looks at the lay of the land in the LaLiga title race at 6PM ET / 3PM PT on beIN XTRA.
Is Messi trying to lure Neymar back to Barcelona?
A Neymar 2019 Remix summer looks upon us all, and Lionel Messi can take the blame.
Very reportedly.
French sports paper L'Equipe had been soothing that Neymar was on the brink of signing a new four-year extension to his current deal with PSG which runs to June 2022.
However, that contract remains without Neymar's signature. The meddling Lionel Messi is reportedly using his own power-play situation by linking the signing of his own new contract with Barcelona with Neymar rejoining the club he left in 2017.
It's all very summer 2019 when Barcelona tried and failed to cobble together a deal for the Brazilian. Two-years later, it looks even harder for the Camp Nou club to pull off, with even less money available in the team's coffers.
Were PSG to decide to let go of a player who is either injured or suspended most of the time, then a feverish report says that Mauricio Pochettino has been checking in with Harry Kane, who really cannot be enjoying life with Tottenham under Jose Mourinho.
Back to the present though and both Neymar and PSG will be preparing today for a tense Champions League quarterfinal, second-leg clash in the Parc de Princes and trying to hang on to a 3-2 aggregate lead against Bayern Munich.
The good news in that department is that three players who were missing from the first leg - Marco Verratti, Alessandro Florenzi and Mauro Icardi, were all training with the team on Monday and could be available for selection, although Marquinhos is out injured.
Sevilla with chance to put pressure on Barca
A wild weekend of soccer is not done with us yet. Sevilla are in action in LaLiga today and have the chance to move within four points of Barcelona with a victory at Celta Vigo, in a clash that is live on beIN SPORTS from 3PM ET / 12PM ET.
Before that, Fenerbahce will need a victory or bust against Gaziantep. Fener are currently in second spot in the Turkish Super Lig standings but are seven points behind a rampant Besiktas side that is charging towards the league title. That game is live on beIN SPORTS at 12PM ET / 9AM ET.
Coming up on beIN SPORTS from Tuesday and the final Copa Libertadores qualifying games are underway with four places left in next week's group stages. Also on the roster is the second leg of the Recopa Sudamericana between Palmeiras and Defensa y Justicia and the return of grass roots American soccer with the NISA Legends Cup tournament getting underway on beIN XTRA on Tuesday.