A week after suffering a fourth elimination from a European competition in a single year, probably the last thing Barcelona would want is a trip to the home of their fiercest rivals.
Even worse, this evening’s clasico, the Bernabeu leg of Real Madrid and Barca’s Copa del Rey semi-final, coincides with a spate of injuries to their most potent attacking players.
There will be no Ousmane Dembele or Pedri because of injury and almost certainly no Robert Lewandowski, who withdrew from last weekend’s dispiriting 1-0 defeat at Almeria with a thigh problem. That trio have been the club’s three highest scorers so far in a season that has lurched suddenly, since giving away a lead against Manchester United and losing their Europa League qualifying tie, into uncertainty.
Barca remain cushioned at the top of La Liga, but confidence at Camp Nou is notoriously brittle: this is a club that has conspicuously failed in most of its high-stakes matches in the last 18 months.
They have been twice knocked out of the Champions League at the group phase by the combined might of Bayern Munich, Benfica and Inter Milan; they have exited the Europa League to Eintracht Frankfurt and United.
And the recent record in clasicos is ominous. Madrid have won five of the last six staged on Spanish soil, the exception a surprise 4-0 win at the Bernabeu last March when Madrid were already well on their way to wrapping up the Liga title.
Xavi Hernandez, the Barcelona manager, finds himself looking to avoid a run of three successive defeats, an unprecedented sequence in his 74-match period in charge.
But he spoke of tonight’s assignment as “a golden opportunity to win a trophy”. He may find himself saying the same ahead of clasicos again and again in the coming weeks.
The most fabled club fixture in the game will be on frequent repeat between now and early April. After tonight, Madrid, the defending Spanish champions, come to Camp Nou on March 19 in La Liga. Seventeen nights later, they are back there again for the second leg of the Cup semi-final.
At seven points ahead of Madrid in the table, the Liga meeting may well feel decisive for Barca’s pursuit of that prize. Whoever triumphs in the Copa del Rey clasicos, earning the right to meet Athletic Bilbao or Osasuna in the final, will become firm favourites for that trophy.
There is one promising precedent for Xavi. In the middle of January, in Riyadh, Barcelona waltzed to a 3-1 victory over Madrid in the final of the Spanish Super Cup.
An optimistic Xavi can view that as the start of a quartet of clasicos leading to a domestic Treble: Super Cup, Copa del Rey and Liga.
He is an optimist, he insisted. “Doubt only brings negatives with it. You can look at our last two matches and think we’re in the emergency room.
"But you see where we stand – we’re top of La Liga, seven points above second place; we’re out of Europe but we were competitive [United won 4-3 on aggregate]; and we’re in a Cup semi. The script looks good. We’re growing as a team and we aren’t going to focus on the last two games.”
Twelve years ago, Xavi was playing for Barcelona, their vice-captain and midfield strategist-in-chief, when four clasicos were crowded into 17 highly-charged spring days, with a Liga collision at the Bernabeu preceding a Copa del Rey final and two legs of a Champions League semi-final.
Madrid won the domestic knockout, but Barca went on to win the 2010-11 Liga and, eliminating Madrid, to claim the European Cup.
Xavi recalls the era as a glorious one, but the atmosphere around Madrid-Barca matches was horribly toxic. Jose Mourinho was Madrid manager then, Pep Guardiola in charge of Barca, their rivalry increasingly prickly.
As temperatures rose on the pitch and in the press conference auditoriums, Xavi and the Madrid captain Iker Casillas, old friends, spoke on the phone to try to defuse the crackling enmity around the clubs.
“In that period, an unnecessary tension was created,” remembered Xavi. “There’s respect and more fair play now. We mustn't set the bad example of that era.”
Which is not to say Xavi, appointed as Barcelona coach in November 2021, has yet earned himself the same reputation for a calm, measured approach as his opposite number at Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti.
Xavi picked up his fifth yellow card of the league season during the loss at Almeria and will be banned from his technical area for Sunday’s hosting of Valencia.
“I’m a Barcelona fan,” he said before setting off for the Spanish capital, “and I got angry the other day because we were in a position where we could have made things easier for ourselves.”
Man United 2 Barcelona 1: Player ratings
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (11.30pm)
Saturday Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund, Cologne v Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld v Mainz (6.30pm) Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig (9.30pm)
Sunday Werder Bremen v Stuttgart (6.30pm), Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (9pm)
Monday Hoffenheim v Augsburg (11.30pm)
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
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The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
The biog
Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite holiday destination: Spain
Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa
Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
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FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
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Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack