Having put themselves on a familiar war footing on the torn battlefield of club versus country for much of the summer, the executives of Bayern Munich will have been gnashing their teeth after Wednesday's 3-2 victory by Germany over Brazil.
For all the club's reflected glory - an unprecedented seven players from Bayern started the game for the national team, and eight took part in the impressive triumph - there was an uncomfortable recognition that the football produced by this Germany team was a good deal better than that shown by Bayern three days earlier.
For Manuel Neuer, Phillip Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez, beating the five-time world champions, Brazil, seems a good deal more than taking on last season's serial relegation flirters, Borussia Monchengladbach, who grabbed three points from the opening league fixture of the season.
But perhaps Wednesday was actually what Bayern's sheepish players needed after Sunday's setback, a chance to restore morale.
That would not be an argument to put too loudly in earshot of Karl Heinz Rummenigge, the vice-president of Bayern and the whole sport's loudest spokesman in favour of international federations conceding more ground - and money - to clubs in the tug-of-war over football's calendar and its hierarchy.
Rummenigge had been studiously creating headlines during the close season, hinting that European clubs might break away from existing governing bodies if their complaints about how much of football's wealth and resources are consumed by international tournaments are not addressed.
Now he hears Germany happily celebrating the "Bayern-Block" in the national team, while Bayern worry about a mental block.
These are very early days, of course. But ahead of Saturday's visit to Wolfsburg, the 2009 Bundesliga champions, there is anxiety about whether Bayern, the league's biggest spenders during the summer, have done enough, or done the right things, to correct the problems that left them well off the pace in trying to defend their 2010 title.
They were lucky, in many ways, to have scraped into pre-qualifying for the Champions League, where they will meet FC Zurich next week.
"Who are we?" was the question that the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper suggested Bayern pose to themselves, reacting to the opening day upset, the 1-0 loss to Monchengladbach. Changes to personnel have been substantial enough to both offer the alibi that Bayern need a period of adaptation but also to demand uplift.
The position of goalkeeper, so unsettled last season when the then head coach Louis Van Gaal dropped the veteran, Hans-Jorg Butt, and replaced him with the novice, Thomas Kraft, has been filled amid fanfare by Manuel Neuer, Germany's No 1, from Schalke.
The back four has two costly newcomers as well, in Rafinha and Jerome Boateng, who have returned to the Bundesliga after a year away, respectively with Genoa in Serie A and Manchester City in the Premier League.
Neuer and Boateng had both been at fault, conspicuously and even comically, for the goal Bayern conceded last weekend, which began with an unthreatening counter-attack against the run of play.
For Neuer, it would be a particularly uncomfortable debut. There are a group of Bayern fans who have displayed prominently their unhappiness at the club's having recruited a goalkeeper who once provocatively celebrated a Schalke win in front of Bayern loyalists and was a Schalke season-ticket holder from childhood.
During pre-season, Jupp Heynckes, the new Bayern coach, found himself obliged to speak out against the anti-Neuer brigade.
Heynckes's own challenge now is to show himself sufficiently distinct from Van Gaal.
He must assuage fears that by far the most gifted squad in German football can be made tougher to beat and, that, going forward, they can at least look the sum of their talented parts.
sports@thenational.ae
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20101hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20135Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Six-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh79%2C900%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Players Selected for La Liga Trials
U18 Age Group
Name: Ahmed Salam (Malaga)
Position: Right Wing
Nationality: Jordanian
Name: Yahia Iraqi (Malaga)
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Morocco
Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
Position: Centre-Midfield
Nationality: French
Name: Mohammed Rajeh (Cadiz)
Position: Striker
Nationality: Jordanian
U16 Age Group
Name: Mehdi Elkhamlichi (Malaga)
Position: Lead Striker
Nationality: Morocco
Key fixtures from January 5-7
Watford v Bristol City
Liverpool v Everton
Brighton v Crystal Palace
Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan
Coventry v Stoke City
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Manchester United v Derby
Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom
Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon
Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester City
Manchester City v Burnley
Shrewsbury v West Ham United
Wolves v Swansea City
Newcastle United v Luton Town
Fulham v Southampton
Norwich City v Chelsea
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Floward%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdulaziz%20Al%20Loughani%20and%20Mohamed%20Al%20Arifi%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EE-commerce%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbout%20%24200%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAljazira%20Capital%2C%20Rainwater%20Partners%2C%20STV%20and%20Impact46%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C200%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh