Following a clasico defeat in their last outing which saw Real Madrid slip four points behind Barcelona, Carlo Ancelotti said his team needed to win their remaining 10 league games to stand a chance of winning the Primera Liga.
They set out with that intent, scoring nine goals against Granada, Madrid’s biggest victory since 1967, on Sunday.
Along with Wednesday night’s game at neighbours Rayo Vallecano, and two Uefa Champions League quarter-final ties against Atletico Madrid, that emphatic win was the first of six consecutive games in the Spanish capital.
Madrid could actually have scored more against a relegation-threatened Granada side who fielded only three of their regular players ahead of more winnable games against Celta Vigo and Cordoba, but Madrid were impressive nonetheless.
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With a full Bernabeu on a sunny morning, and no injuries, it was just what the club needed. Cristiano Ronaldo’s five goals, his most in one game, pushed him four ahead of Lionel Messi in the race for the Pichichi, the award for Spain’s top scorer.
Ronaldo’s first three goals came in just eight minutes, the quickest treble of his career. He has now scored 300 Real Madrid goals in less than five years — over 60 a season.
Madrid have stuttered in recent months but injured players are now returning to the side and Sunday was the first time since early November that Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez and Luca Modric started in midfield together.
All were superb and when they play together, Madrid average over four goals per game. Quite where the brilliant Isco fits in is something for Ancelotti to ponder, but it’s a problem every coach could like. Ancelotti and his assistants Paul Clement and Fernando Hierro worked on speed of movement in training to get their misfiring front line functioning again. It’s working.
Gareth Bale was one of several players subjected to jeers from his own fans but after he stood out for Wales in Israel, those fans wondered why he wasn’t as confident for club as with country. A little support helped him on Sunday, though kicking the match ball into the crowd was not the wisest thing to do when one of his teammates had scored five and enjoys collecting trophies attesting to his brilliance.
Madrid played well in el clasico and look better in attack than they have at any time this year.
Their defence, which has conceded 27 league goals, more than any team in the top four, needs to show the same improvement, but they now have their best midfielders in front of them again.
Madrid are smiling, but is it too late? They need Barcelona to slip and would have been encouraged as the Catalans were being held 0-0 at Celta Vigo until the 73rd minute on Sunday night.
Then Jeremy Mathieu, Madrid’s nemesis who scored in el clasico and in three of his four games against them, came up with a goal.
Barca are favourites for the title and would need to lose twice for Madrid to close the gap, but they still have to go to the Vicente Calderon to face Atletico and they also play neighbours Espanyol and fifth-place Sevilla away in difficult matches in their run-in.
Sevilla are unbeaten at home this season, though they have yet to play the leading two.
Madrid play at Sevilla in Week 35 and, like Barca, must also play at Espanyol.
Madrid also go to Celta, who ended their title hopes last season. Atletico are nine points behind Barca and retaining their title is a long shot, but look what happened last season when the top three teams stopped winning at the end.
It’s a tough run-in and Spain’s leading three are also in the Champions League.
They wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Results
Female 49kg: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) bt Thamires Aquino (BRA); points 0-0 (advantage points points 1-0).
Female 55kg: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Amal Amjahid (BEL); points 4-2.
Female 62kg: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR); 10-2.
Female 70kg: Thamara Silva (BRA) bt Alessandra Moss (AUS); submission.
Female 90kg: Gabreili Passanha (BRA) bt Claire-France Thevenon (FRA); submission.
Male 56kg: Hiago George (BRA) bt Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA); 2-2 (2-0)
Male 62kg: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) bt Joao Miyao (BRA); 2-2 (2-1)
Male 69kg: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Isaac Doederlein (USA); 2-2 (2-2) Ref decision.
Male 77kg: Tommy Langarkar (NOR) by Oliver Lovell (GBR); submission.
Male 85kg: Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE); 2-2 (1-1) Ref decision.
Male 94kg: Kaynan Duarte (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL); submission.
Male 110kg: Joao Rocha (BRA) bt Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE); submission.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek independent legal advice.
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