Real Madrid defeated Villarreal 2-0 to move level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday night, but their victory was tarnished by what manager Carlo Ancelotti described as a "serious knee injury" to full-back Dani Carvajal.
Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior scored to help Real Madrid bounce back from their first defeat since January – when they lost at Lille in the Uefa Champions League – and stay unbeaten in the Spanish top flight. Los Blancos are on 21 points after nine games, level with arch-rivals Barca, who visit Alaves on Sunday.
Valverde's deflected effort and a rocket from Vinicius allowed Madrid to put a four-point gap between them and their third-placed opponents, who battled well but came up fractionally short in the capital.
Madrid's victory was marred by a late injury to defender Carvajal, who had to be taken off on a stretcher.
"It seems a serious knee injury, it will be looked at in the coming hours," Real Madrid coach Ancelotti said. "The players are sad, worried because something happened that happens a lot, because of the [busy] calendar, and it happened to a very, very important player for us."
Ancelotti said Vinicius would also have medical tests after being taken off late on with discomfort in his shoulder and neck. The Italian coach started Kylian Mbappe after the French striker had recovered from a thigh problem. The former Paris Saint-Germain striker could only appear from the bench in Madrid's disappointing midweek display.
Mbappe, who France have not selected for upcoming Uefa Nations League fixtures, was quiet at the Santiago Bernabeu as his team ground out victory with a determined, rather than inspiring, performance.
Mbappe sent an early volley off-target from Luka Modric's corner but it was midfield powerhouse Valverde who broke the deadlock after 14 minutes. The Uruguayan's drive from distance deflected off Villarreal playmaker Alex Baena and arced beyond the reach of goalkeeper Diego Conde.
The visitors, enjoying a strong start to the season under coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, came close when Nicolas Pepe's header clipped the top of the crossbar.
Mbappe had one further chance, bursting into the area with his electric pace, but goalkeeper Conde managed to dispossess him with an outstretched leg.
Villarreal appealed for a penalty early in the second half when Aurelien Tchouameni, playing at centre-back, pulled down Barry, but the French striker was offside.
Baena hit the side-netting of Andriy Lunin's goal with a free-kick, nearly catching out the Ukrainian goalkeeper standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
Vinicius flashed a shot narrowly wide, before his strike partner Mbappe was replaced with 20 minutes to go by Rodrygo Goes.
Brazil striker Vinicius, who is hoping to win a first Ballon d'Or later in October, netted the second with a superb effort from outside the area, which ripped into the top corner.
In stoppage time, Spanish right-back Carvajal suffered an injury while attempting to clear the ball under pressure from Yeremi Pino.
"In the end, the result's a less important thing -- Dani's health is what matters," Valverde told Real Madrid TV. "The game was fine, it was neither very good or bad, it was what we had to do to win, two goals was enough."
Villarreal defender Raul Albiol was also concerned about Carvajal.
"It looked bad ... let's hope it's the least [damage] possible because we all know how important he is for Real Madrid and Spanish football," he said.
The centre-back said Madrid were efficient with their finishing and that made the difference. "They have a lot of attacking punch and more or less with three chances they had two goals."
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
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.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
