History places an obligation on the clubs who contest Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup to entertain. Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt have met only once before in a competitive context, but so thrilling was that encounter it was dubbed ‘Match of the Century’. The label stayed attached to the epic 1960 European Cup final, won 7-3 by Madrid, through most of the remaining years of the 20th century.
Ferenc Puskas scored four that day and Alfredo Di Stefano grabbed a hat-trick but Madrid had to impose their authority after falling behind. Modern Real also perform stirring comebacks: They are in Helsinki today by virtue of a fifth Champions League title in the last nine years, which they captured after a rollercoaster ride towards the final against Liverpool.
A reminder: Madrid were behind on the aggregate scoreline deep into each of their knockout ties: In the last 16 against Paris Saint-Germain, which featured five goals; in a quarter-final against Chelsea that had nine; and in the semi-final, where Madrid and Manchester City shared 11 goals.
Eintracht cultivated their own cliff-edge suspense on the way to claiming the Europa League, via a penalty shoot-out in the final against Glasgow Rangers. They had let leads slip in see-saw knockout ties against Real Betis and Barcelona, with whom they shared seven goals across the quarter-final. Ominously for the German club, the loose habits that were part of their adventure appear to have remained. Eintracht lost their opening match of the Bundesliga season at the weekend 6-1 to Bayern Munich.
Madrid will only begin their defence of their Spanish Liga title this Sunday but head coach Carlo Ancelotti insists that the Super Cup is no mere warm-up. “We have six titles in play this season and we want to fight for all of them,” said the Italian, surveying the long menu of commitments in the 10 months ahead: the defence of the Champions League and La Liga, plus the Spanish Super Cup, the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup.
In his mind is also the impact of the Qatar World Cup on Madrid’s crowded schedule. With the exception of David Alaba, the Austrian defender, all Madrid’s senior players would expect to be involved with their national teams in Qatar in November and December.
Set against that heavy burden of fixtures, Madrid’s summer recruitment so far can look sparse. The club have spent heavily on one new signing - 22-year-old France international midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni at over €100m from Monaco. But so far in this transfer window, they only significantly reinforced one other area of the pitch, with the addition of Antonio Rudiger, who, having come to the end of his contract at Chelsea, will vie for a place in central defence alongside Alaba and Eder Miltao.
Tchouameni and compatriot Edu Camavinga, 19 and maturing fast, are reassuring successors for the time when the long-serving midfield trio of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro, all now in their 30s, need rest or slip down Ancelotti’s hierarchy. But there are few obvious back-ups to the other stellar veteran Karim Benzema, who since turning 34 in December has had his best period as a Madrid striker. Benzema is at the sharp end of the calendar’s relentless demands, spearheading Madrid’s pursuit of prizes and France’s bid to retain the World Cup.
Ancelotti points to the huge progress of Vinicius Junior as a reason not to fear any Benzema absence with injury or dip in form. The Brazilian winger had a brilliant 2021-22, and capped it with the only goal of the Champions League final.
To score the winner on occasions like that is to guarantee a place in history. To do so while very young - Vinicius turned 22 last month - is also to draw scrutiny for the remainder of a career. Just ask Mario Gotze, who eight summers ago struck the winning goal in a World Cup final for Germany. Gotze was 22 at the time. He would reluctantly reflect that there have been no comparable high points for him since. He has suffered illness, several injury lay-offs, and moved downwards, from Bayern Munich, to Borussia Dortmund and then to PSV Eindhoven since his moment of glory.
This summer, Gotze transferred again, to Eintracht, where he has an early chance to appear in a showpiece final. “The World Cup is eight years ago but it’s always created a lot of noise around Mario,” said Oliver Glasner, the Eintracht head coach. “It doesn’t help him. But he’s calm and has unbelievable talent. We can offer him the stage to display it.”
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Terminator: Dark Fate
Director: Tim Miller
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis
Rating: 3/5
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
MATCH INFO
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Jebel Ali results
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
2.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Shamikh, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 64,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: One Vision, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
3.30pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gabr, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
4pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 96,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Just A Penny, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
4.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Torno Subito, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 76,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner: Untold Secret, Jose Santiago, Salem bin Ghadayer
Bio
Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro
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
Company%C2%A0profile
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OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE
1. Liverpool 101 points
2. Manchester City 80
3. Leicester 67
4. Chelsea 63
5. Manchester United 61
6. Tottenham 58
7. Wolves 56
8. Arsenal 56
9. Sheffield United 55
10. Everton 50
11. Burnley 49
12. Crystal Palace 49
13. Newcastle 46
14. Southampton 44
15. West Ham 39
16. Brighton 37
17. Watford 36
18. Bournemouth 36
19. Aston Villa 32
20. Norwich City 29
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The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
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.”
