BERLIN // Facts and figures relating to the Uefa Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
– This will be the 60th final of the competition since it started as the European Champions Cup in the 1955/56 season and the first final in the competition’s history to be staged in Berlin.
– The final was never held in the former East Germany but it has been staged in West Germany or the unified Germany seven times: in Stuttgart (1959 and 1988), Munich (1979, 1993, 1997 and 2012), and Gelsenkirchen (2004).
– Borussia Dortmund are the only German team to lift the European Cup on German soil, winning the 1997 final in Munich when they beat Juventus 3-1.
– That was one of Juventus’s five defeats in the final along with their losses in 1973, 1983, 1998 and 2003. They have lifted the cup twice – beating Liverpool on the night of the Heysel Stadium disaster in Brussels in 1985 and Ajax on penalties in Rome in 1996.
– Italian clubs have won the European Cup a total of 12 times with AC Milan’s seven wins, Inter Milan’s three and Juve’s two.
– Spanish clubs have lifted the trophy 14 times with Real Madrid winning it last year for a record 10th time and Barcelona winning it four times.
– Barcelona’s first win was over the Italians from Sampdoria in 1992 and their three other wins in the last decade have been against English clubs, beating Arsenal in 2006 and Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011.
– Both Juventus and Barcelona will complete the treble if they win on Saturday having both won the League and Cup doubles domestically.
– They would join Celtic (1967), Ajax Amsterdam (1972), PSV Eindhoven (1988), Manchester United (1999), Inter Milan (2010) and Bayern Munich (2013) as treble winners.
– Barcelona would become the first club to achieve the treble twice having first done it in 2009.
– Both managers, Massimiliano Allegri of Juventus and Luis Enrique of Barcelona are looking to win the trophy in their first seasons in their current jobs.
– Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who shares the all-time record with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo of 77 Champions League goals would become the first player to score in three Champions League finals if he finds the net on Saturday. He also scored in the 2009 and 2011 finals.
– Andrea Pirlo could complete a rare double of playing for and against the same team in the final – and winning two winners medals. He was in the AC Milan team that beat Juventus on penalties at Old Trafford in 2003 and should be in Juve’s starting line-up on Saturday. He also won the title with AC Milan in 2007.
– Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is the last survivor of that 2003 Juventus team still playing at the club. Eight Barca players who won the Cup in 2011 are still playing at the Camp Nou.
– The two clubs have met in four previous two-legged ties since the 1970-71 season when Juventus won an Inter Cities Fairs Cup tie 4-2 on aggregate.
– Since then Barcelona beat holders Juventus 2-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 1985/86 European Cup, and beat them 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the 1990/91 European Cup Winner’s Cup.
– Their last meeting was in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2002/03 when Juventus won 3-2 on aggregate. Current Barca manager Luis Enrique captained the Catalan club at home in the second leg which Juve, with Buffon in goal, won 2-1.
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MATCH INFO
Southampton 0
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Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Zayed Sustainability Prize
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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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Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
