Sooner or later, Borussia Dortmund’s bubble will burst. No side can keep on slugging it out with a team whose wage bill is double their own.
But, for now, that bubble remains intact. Dortmund lost Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich, their biggest domestic rivals, in the summer, and they have been without Lukasz Piszczek and Ilkay Gundogan through injury, and yet they look stronger than ever, sitting proudly atop the Bundesliga with five wins out of five before today’s clash with struggling Nuremberg.
Wednesday’s Champions League loss to Napoli was a setback, but that campaign will be back on track if they can beat Marseille at home on October 1. No club has such a fine recent record of transfer activity as Dortmund and this summer, once again, they made the right deals for the right players at the right time.
Pierre-Emerich Aubemayang joined for £11.4 million (Dh67.2m) and has already scored five goals in five Bundesliga games, while Henrikh Mkhytarian, probably already the finest footballer from Armenia, was signed for £24.2m from Shakhtar Donetsk. Both are 24, just coming into the peak of their careers.
The greater pressure was on Mkhitaryan, partly because of the size of his fee, and partly because he is the more direct replacement for Gotze, who was sold to Bayern for £32.5m. He has taken to his new team, though, with his familiar enthusiasm, his passion stoked, perhaps, by being made to room with Kevin Grosskreutz, the season-ticket-holder who became a first-teamer and taught Mkhitaryan 20 Dortmund chants.
His coach at Shakhtar, Mircea Lucescu, has spoken glowingly about his intelligence on the pitch and his devotion to self-improvement off it. Mkhitaryan is one of those rarest of footballers: a hugely gifted player who genuinely loves the game.
Mkhitaryan was born into football. His father, Hamlet, was a respected centre-forward for Ararat Yerevan, Armenia’s most successful club in Soviet times, in the late 1980s. He had a brief stint at Kotayk Abovian, and in 1989, a few months after Henrik’s birth, he was transferred to the French club ASOA Valence, where he spent five years before a move to Issy, picking up two caps for the newly independent Armenia.
Even then, the younger Mkhitaryan’s love for football was clear. “When I was a child, I used to watch my father playing football, and I always wanted to follow him to training,” he said. “When he didn’t take me with him, I stayed next to the door, crying.
“I always wanted to become a football player, and I thank my parents, as they helped me so much to realise this dream. They always supported me on my path.”
Much of that support has had to come from his mother. The Mkhitaryans returned to Yerevan in 1995, and a year later, when Henrikh was seven, his father died from a brain tumour. Football, though, remained a major part of the family’s life. Henrikh’s mother works for the Armenian Football Federation, while his sister, Monica, is employed at Uefa headquarters in Switzerland.
With no Armenian enjoying a higher profile than Mkhitaryan, he is aware that he has greater responsibility than most players, acting almost as an icebreaker for the whole of the nation’s football, cutting a path for others to follow. “I want Armenian children to realise they don’t have to stop in the Armenian league, thinking that they’re not able to achieve anything more,” he said. “Every person has to keep in mind that they can grow up and reach the top, no matter where they are born, whether it’s in Russia, in Ukraine, in Europe.
“They’ve still got the opportunity to show their talent and the culture of their people.”
Dortmund, with their progressive, attacking approach, are probably the perfect showcase for Mkhitaryan. He said in the summer that he wanted to join because he loved the way they play, which is about the strongest endorsement possible from a player of his fitness level. The loss of Gotze, which seemed so crippling at the time, may actually have made them stronger.
sports@thenational.ae
Fixtures
Last night
Gladbach v Eintracht 10.30pm
Today
Hannover v Augsburg 5.30pm
Mainz v Leverkusen 5.30pm
Nuremberg v Dortmund 5.30pm
Wolfsburg v Hoffenheim 5.30pm
Hamburg v Bremen 5.30pm
Schalke v Bayern 8.30pm
Tomorrow
Freiburg v Hertha 5.30pm
Stuttgart v Frankfurt 7.30pm
The years Ramadan fell in May
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Read more about the coronavirus
Results
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m | Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Al Shamkhah, Royston Ffrench, Sandeep Jadhav
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m | Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m | Winner: Kawasir, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m | Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Bochart, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m | Winner: Quartier Francais, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
RESULT
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
