Backheel Breakfast: Qatar 2022 World Cup stories keep getting worse

Migrant workers are a massive portion of Qatar’s population, and they’re the ones actually doing all the work to build the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. They died at a rate of one every two days in 2014, so it’s difficult for World Cup-related stories to elicit shock anymore.

But even for Qatar, making migrant workers run a marathon is pretty shocking. The marathon attempted to break a world record for participation (they failed), in “response to the campaign waged by the sector of envious haters on the success of Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and to their false allegations of persecution of workers and residents in our beloved country.” So, of course, they forced migrant workers to run in it.

This is your regular reminder that the 2022 World Cup is the worst.

Lionel Messi’s foot injury isn’t serious, and he might even play this weekend. (ESPN FC)

Franck Ribery is out for Der Klassiker. (Bundesliga)

After two months on the sidelines, James Rodriguez is expected to start this weekend. (AS)

Arsene Wenger and Olivier Giroud won manager and player of the month for March. (BBC)

Sorry, Radamel Falcao. Louis van Gaal says Marouane Fellaini is impossible to drop. (Guardian)

Alvaro Morata’s agent says it’s up to him whether he plays at Juventus or Real Madrid next season. (Football Italia)

Kirsten Schlewitz on Der Klassiker snapping Borussia Dortmund back to reality. (Soccer Gods)

David Conn on Mike Ashley’s engineered mediocrity at Newcastle. (Guardian)

Bobby Gardiner on why Raheem Sterling is worth more than the £100k per week he turned down. (Just Football)

The section in which nothing should be taken seriously.

David De Gea is Real Madrid’s priority target this summer, with Petr Cech their backup plan. (AS)

Paris Saint-Germain could come in for Carlos Tevez. (Football Italia)

Louis van Gaal’s top target is Kevin Strootman, not Paul Pogba or one of Real Madrid’s stars. (Manchester Evening News)

Roma vs. Napoli (Saturday, 6:30 a.m.) - Oh god why so early.

Arsenal vs. Liverpool (Saturday, 7:45 a.m.) - The race for third and fourth is coming down to the wire, and one of these teams might miss out on Champions League.

Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.) - BVB really need an upset win in Der Klassiker.

Real Madrid vs. Granada (Sunday, 6 a.m.) - In case you didn’t go to bed the night before.

Valencia vs. Villarreal (Sunday, 11 a.m.) - This La Liga top four battle might sneakily be the best game of the weekend.

Celta Vigo vs. Barcelona (Sunday, 3 p.m.) - Not necessarily an easy win for Barca.

Olympique Marseille vs. Paris Saint-Germain (Sunday, 3 p.m.) - Big games in Ligue 1 have been awful this year. Let’s hope this one actually features some goals.