Barcelona defender Dani Alves said his team cannot be complacent when they host a Paris Saint-Germain side bolstered by the return of key personnel at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Two goals from Luis Suarez took Barca to the brink of a seventh Champions League semi-final in eight seasons as they romped to a 3-1 win in the first-leg of the quarter-final tie in Paris last week.
However, a late own goal from Jeremy Mathieu offered the French champions a glimmer of hope as they welcome back top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfield playmaker Marco Verratti.
“We will not speculate with the result because we don’t know how to,” Alves, who has been linked with a move to PSG in the summer, told Barca’s website.
“The philosophy and the spirit of the team is to challenge for every ball as if it was the last. We cannot think about our advantage, but just control the game and look to score from the first minute. That is the only way to overcome PSG.”
Barca remained on course for a treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Valencia on Saturday thanks to goals in the first and last minute from Suarez and Lionel Messi, who registered his 400th goal for the club.
Luis Enrique’s side also will have back key players as Alves returns after he missed the first leg through suspension. Andres Iniesta is expected to overcome the back bruise he suffered at the Parc des Princes and be available for selection.
It would take a remarkable turnaround for PSG to progress to the semi-finals for the first time since 1995. Barca haven’t lost at home by more than one goal for nearly two years, when Bayern Munich rounded off a historic 7-0 aggregate thrashing of the Catalan club with a 3-0 victory at the Camp Nou.
However, domestically things have been far easier for PSG in recent weeks as two goals from Javier Pastore kept them a point clear of Lyon at the top of the table in a 3-1 win at Nice.
David Luiz played 90 minutes despite his horror show when he was nutmegged twice by Suarez in the build-up to the Uruguayan’s goals and insisted that he is not feeling the after-effects of a hamstring problem that was originally expected to keep him out of both legs of the tie.
“I do not feel any pain, I just feel tired after that match,” said the Brazilian.
“In Barcelona we will do all we can. Of course, we must still believe.”
However, teammate Blaise Matuidi admitted they will have to defend an awful lot better against Barca’s star front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar to stand any chance.
“We must above all go without any complex and try everything to achieve what would be an amazing feat.
“We will be keen to show something different from the first leg and primarily defend well because that’s what we missed at the Parc des Princes.”
PSG captain Thiago Silva has been included in the squad despite limping off with a thigh injury early on in the first leg, but Thiago Motta and Serge Aurier miss out through injury and suspension, respectively.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.”
Racecard
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
