Al Jazira's Ali Mabkhout, centre in white, avoids Al Sadd players during their AFC qualifying match in Abu Dhabi. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
Al Jazira's Ali Mabkhout, centre in white, avoids Al Sadd players during their AFC qualifying match in Abu Dhabi. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
Al Jazira's Ali Mabkhout, centre in white, avoids Al Sadd players during their AFC qualifying match in Abu Dhabi. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
Al Jazira's Ali Mabkhout, centre in white, avoids Al Sadd players during their AFC qualifying match in Abu Dhabi. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

Al Ain, Al Jazira and Al Nasr in Asian Champions League: Everything you need to know


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

The 2016 Asian Champions League begins this week with three UAE clubs participating. They seek to become only the second Emirati side to lift the title.

HOW THEY QUALIFIED

Al Ain – 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League champions

Al Jazira – 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League runners-up

Al Nasr – 2015 President's Cup winners

UAE’S ASIAN RECORD

Al Ain remain the only Emirati side to win the tournament, when they defeated Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana across two legs in 2003. Since then, two more UAE sides have reached the final: Al Ain, in 2005, and Al Ahli, last year. They were beaten by Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad and China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, respectively.

2016 GROUP STAGE

Group A Sepahan (IRN), Al Nasr, Lokomotiv (UZB), Al Ittihad (KSA)

How they qualified Sepahan (Iranian champions), Lokomotiv (Uzbek runners-up), Ittihad (4th Saudi top-flight)

Al Nasr's fixtures Feb 23 – Sepahan (a), Mar 1 –Sepahan (h), Mar 15 – Ittihad (a), Apr 6 – Ittihad (h), Apr 20 – Lokomotiv (h), May 4 – Lokomotiv (a)

___________________________________

Group C Pakhtakor (UZB), Al Hilal (KSA), Tractor Sazi (IRN), Al Jazira

How they qualified Pakhtakor (Uzbek champions), Hilal (King Cup winners/3rd Saudi top flight), Tractor (Iranian runners-up)

Al Jazira's fixtures Feb 24 – Tractor (a), Mar 2 –Tractor (h), Mar 15 – Hilal (h), Apr 6 – Hilal (a), Apr 19 – Pakhtakor (h), May 3 – Pakhtakor (a)

___________________________________

Group D Al Ain, Nasaf (UZB), Al Ahli (KSA), El Jaish (QAT)

How they qualified Nasaf (Uzbek Cup winners/3rd Uzbek league), Ahli (Saudi runners-up), Jaish (3rd Qatari top flight)

Al Ain's fixtures Feb 24 – Jaish (h), Mar 2 –Jaish (a), Mar 16 – Ahli (h), Apr 5 – Ahli (a), Apr 19 – Nasaf (a), May 3 – Nasaf (h)

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Brutalist

Director: Brady Corbet

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

If you go...

Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).

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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
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  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

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FIXTURES

Saturday
5.30pm: Shabab Al Ahli v Al Wahda
5.30pm: Khorfakkan v Baniyas
8.15pm: Hatta v Ajman
8.15pm: Sharjah v Al Ain
Sunday
5.30pm: Kalba v Al Jazira
5.30pm: Fujairah v Al Dhafra
8.15pm: Al Nasr v Al Wasl

'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap​​​​​​​
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal​​​​​​​
Rating: 3.5/5

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

Results

5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)

6.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m, Winner: Mayehaab, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Monoski, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer

7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Eastern World, Royston Ffrench, Charlie Appleby

7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Madkal, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

8.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Taneen, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi

Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match

MATCH INFO

Serie A

Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)

Match is on BeIN Sports

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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