Arsenal and Celtic headline a list of sides seeking to clinch a place in the lucrative Champions League group stage this week in the return legs of the play-offs.
Ten-man Arsenal escaped Turkey with a goalless draw against Besiktas but the club remain on course for a 17th consecutive group phase appearance although they will be without suspended midfielder Aaron Ramsey for Wednesday’s second leg.
Arsene Wenger’s men displayed their resilience by coming from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Everton in the Premier League on Saturday and Jack Wilshere believes the result puts them in a perfect frame of mind to wrap up the tie with Besiktas.
“This is a fantastic point and now we have a big game on Wednesday and this will give us great confidence going into that,” the England midfielder told Arsenal’s website after the match at Goodison Park.
“We never give up and at this level that is massive. We have always shown over the years that Arsenal are going to battle like mad right until the end.”
The north London club boasts a proud record of having never lost a Champions League qualifying tie and although last week’s draw was the first time in 13 matches they’d failed to win a play-off encounter, the goal is quite simple for Wenger.
“We know the second leg will be tight again, but we are at home, so the task is clear for us - we want to win,” said the Arsenal boss, who led the club to the 2006 Champions League final.
Celtic were held to a 1-1 draw at Slovenian champions Maribor in the first leg but the Scots remain favourites to progress under new coach Ronny Deila.
The Glasgow giants were handed a reprieve after Legia Warsaw fielded an ineligible player in the previous round but suffered a setback as a weakened Celtic side slumped to a 1-0 loss Saturday at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Premiership.
Deila, though, expects his players to respond and capitalise on their second chance in Tuesday’s return fixture at Parkhead.
“The players will have no problem picking themselves up. We have a new game now and we are going to bounce back on Tuesday,” Deila told the club’s in-house television channel, Celtic TV.
Striker Anthony Stokes was confident the 1967 European champions would return to the group stage for a third straight season.
“We are in pole position now going back. We are ahead in the tie and we are going back to Celtic Park where we fancy our chances,” the Irishman told UEFA.com.
“It’s not for me to say (if Celtic are favourites to go through). We are ahead in the tie, like I said. But it is going to be a difficult game. They’re a very good technical team.
“But we won’t take our eye off the ball. We’ll fully focus and give it 100 per cent.”
Two-time former champions Porto, who hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg, will look to wrap up their tie with French side Lille in Portugal on Tuesday, while Athletic Bilbao versus Napoli is the pick of the fixtures on Wednesday.
Athletic are bidding to qualify for the group stage for the first time since 1998/99 and gained the upper hand with a 1-1 draw againt Napoli, knocked out of a group containing Arsenal last season, in Italy.
Bayer Leverkusen reached the last 16 last time out and are on course to return to Europe’s premier club competition after a 3-2 win over FC Copenhagen in Denmark last week.
Leverkusen, led by new coach Roger Schmidt, were further boosted by an impressive 2-0 success at Borussia Dortmund in their Bundesliga opener on Saturday.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
ODI FIXTURE SCHEDULE
First ODI, October 22
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Second ODI, October 25
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Third ODI, October 29
Venue TBC
Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
