Thirteen months ago to the day, Barcelona met Bayern Munich in a Champions League quarter-final. The circumstances were unusual. It was not long after the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, so the contest was played over one leg, on neutral territory in Lisbon. Bayern had just won their eighth successive Bundesliga. Barca had just been deposed as Spanish champions.
The match, the most glamorous, on paper, of that season’s last-eight match-ups, started frenetically. It was 1-1 after seven minutes. Bayern players had scored both goals, David Alaba steering a Jordi Alba cross past his own goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer after Thomas Muller had given Bayern a fourth-minute lead.
It promised a goal-fest. Lionel Messi felt fearful about whose goal-fest it would turn out to be.
Barcelona employees contributed three of the 10 goals on the night. Unfortunately for the Catalan club two of them were scored by Philippe Coutinho, who was rounding off his loan spell at Bayern in what was only his second full season as Barca’s most expensive-ever signing. Coutinho struck Bayern’s goals number seven and eight - against his parent club.
Even when Luis Suarez pulled the score back to 4-2 down with 33 minutes to go, there seemed little hope for Barca, although Antoine Griezmann’s impact off the bench at half-time had improved a dire situation for a period.
Fast forward to Tuesday’s Champions League group phase-opener, the first Barca-Bayern contest since then. Much has changed. Both clubs have different head managers, Ronald Koeman having very promptly replaced the luckless Quique Setien. Bayern, who won the 2020 final under Hansi Flick, have recently appointed 34-year-old Julian Nagelsmann.
Although Nagelsmann has injury doubts for tonight over strikers Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski, he has inherited a squad as strong, on paper, as the one that walloped Barca in Lisbon. Alaba and Jerome Boateng have departed from the defence, but Dayot Upamecano has been signed for €43 million to cover that gap. Bayern are among the favourites for this season’s European Cup.
Koeman can hardly make the same claim of Barcelona. The then and now comparisons with August 2020 are painful, and go beyond the haunting recollection of Lisbon. “Several players suffered a lot after that game,” Koeman acknowledged on Monday.
Several have also left Camp Nou, which is the greater concern. For the first time in 17 years, Barcelona begin a European campaign without Messi, now of Paris Saint-Germain. Suarez is long gone, now joined at Atletico Madrid by Griezmann.
The strikeforce Koeman selects today will look a pale shadow of what he inherited from the luckless Setien, let alone the Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio who won Barca their last Champions League title, in 2015.
Luuk De Jong, the 31-year-old Dutch target man signed on loan from Sevilla on transfer deadline day, may make his debut against Bayern. It is the sort of fixture he might have thought very unlikely to ever feature on his zig-zag career path when he was going through his barren scoring spells at Borussia Monchengladbach (six goals in 36 Bundesliga games) and Newcastle United (no goals in 12 Premier League appearances).
Barcelona have shed superstar forwards in favour of lesser lights largely because of suffocating debts, and a financial crisis exacerbated by Covid-19 emptying stadiums. But they are far from the only fallen heavyweight fearing that the return of supporters to some of Europe’s biggest arenas will confront fans with close-up evidence of lowered standards.
Take Inter Milan, who tomorrow take on Real Madrid in Milan. The echoes of last season’s Champions League meetings between those two clubs will be many. Madrid and Inter, the Italian champions, both struggled when they shared a group, Madrid crawling up from third spot only on the last match day, Inter finishing bottom. And that was while Inter were still coached by Antonio Conte and had Romelu Lukaku up front. Both left during the summer.
Liverpool versus AC Milan, which will open up Group B, has a storied past to catch up on, too, a special resonance for English and Italian football’s most successful clubs in terms of the European Cup. But for Milan, who lost dramatically to Liverpool in the 2005 final, and beat them in Athens two years later, this reunion looks daunting because of their rustiness at this level of competition. Milan are returning to Europe’s most prestigious competition for the first time in seven largely bleak years.
“This match has not come at a great time,” said Koeman yesterday of Bayern’s visit, “because we have had to make a lot of changes.” He could have been speaking for several so-called superclubs.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
New schools in Dubai
SUNDAY'S ABU DHABI T10 MATCHES
Northern Warriors v Team Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangla Tigers v Karnataka Tuskers, 5.45pm
Qalandars v Maratha Arabians, 8pm
The Abu Dhabi Awards explained:
What are the awards? They honour anyone who has made a contribution to life in Abu Dhabi.
Are they open to only Emiratis? The awards are open to anyone, regardless of age or nationality, living anywhere in the world.
When do nominations close? The process concludes on December 31.
How do I nominate someone? Through the website.
When is the ceremony? The awards event will take place early next year.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
Rajasthan Royals 153-5 (17.5 ov)
Delhi Daredevils 60-4 (6 ov)
Rajasthan won by 10 runs (D/L method)
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THREE
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Results
2.30pm: Park Avenue – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Rb Seqondtonone, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
3.05pm: Al Furjan – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bosphorus, Dane O’Neill, Bhupat Seemar
3.40pm: Mina – Rated Condition (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Royal Mews, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar
4.15pm: Aliyah – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,900m; Winner: Ursa Minor, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
4.50pm: Riviera Beach – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,200m; Winner: Woodditton, Saif Al Balushi, Ahmad bin Harmash
5.25pm: Riviera – Handicap (TB) Dh2,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Al Madhar, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
6pm: Creek Views – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Al Salt, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
8 UAE companies helping families reduce their carbon footprint
Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
www.greenheartuae.com
Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
www.modibodi.ae
The Good Karma Co
From brushes made of plant fibres to eco-friendly storage solutions, this company has planet-friendly alternatives to almost everything we need, including tin foil and toothbrushes.
www.instagram.com/thegoodkarmaco
Re:told
One Dubai boutique, Re:told, is taking second-hand garments and selling them on at a fraction of the price, helping to cut back on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown into landfills each year.
www.shopretold.com
Lush
Lush provides products such as shampoo and conditioner as package-free bars with reusable tins to store.
www.mena.lush.com
Bubble Bro
Offering filtered, still and sparkling water on tap, Bubble Bro is attempting to ensure we don’t produce plastic or glass waste. Founded in 2017 by Adel Abu-Aysha, the company is on track to exceeding its target of saving one million bottles by the end of the year.
www.bubble-bro.com
Coethical
This company offers refillable, eco-friendly home cleaning and hygiene products that are all biodegradable, free of chemicals and certifiably not tested on animals.
www.instagram.com/coethical
Eggs & Soldiers
This bricks-and-mortar shop and e-store, founded by a Dubai mum-of-four, is the place to go for all manner of family products – from reusable cloth diapers to organic skincare and sustainable toys.
www.eggsnsoldiers.com
