It is Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid on Saturday night, fourth v first in the Primera Liga and the last Madrid league derby at the Vicente Calderon. Modern day Real Madrid stars will not be unhappy about that given their recent form there. Not many teams beat them 4-0, as Atletico did last February.
Modern day Atletico players will be glad of an opportunity to partially avenge a second Uefa Champions League final defeat in three years by their neighbours. The last time the clubs met was in May's Milan final, though last weekend saw 11,000 shirt-wearing fans of both teams mixing on the streets of the Spanish capital in a 10-kilometre road race.
Talking about the defeat in Milan, midfielder Koke told Marca: "These things stay with you your whole life. But they will make us stronger. Every Atletico fan wants to win a Champions League, this group deserves it for all it has battled. It is not that we are owed a Champions League, but we deserve it."
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Koke has shifted position this season to a more central role. He is a key player behind Antoine Griezmann, yet Atletico have lost two of their last three matches – away to Sevilla and Real Sociedad – and slipped to fourth in the table.
Real have had good news ahead of the match. Toni Kroos is still out injured but Sergio Ramos, who last played on September 27, is closer to returning to play having started training again as he recovers from a knee injury. Fellow defender Pepe has a hamstring problem and has not been training with the rest of the squad, while Karim Benzema and Casemiro, a key player in Zinedine Zidane’s plans, are still recovering.
The exceptional Luca Modric is also back, and was superb for Croatia against Iceland on a heavy pitch in a 2018 World Cup qualifier last week. The midfielder’s stock continues to rise, with even Atletico captain Gabi this week describing him as Real’s best player. “He’s the one who makes them play and gives the team balance,” he said. “We’ll try to counter his playmaking skills.” Zidane will be wary. Real rushed players back for the clasico a year ago and were hammered 4-0 at home by Barcelona.
It is Zidane’s first real test of the season, for Atletico, Sevilla and Barca have already played each other; Real have not faced any of the best three teams in Spain yet.
The Frenchman has a clear best XI, yet he has had to contend with so many injuries this season that he has been unable to field it. It is to his credit that Real sit top of La Liga as the only unbeaten team in Spain’s top two divisions.
Leading the league a month ago, Atletico will slip nine points behind their neighbours if they lose for the third time in a month. At least they will have Griezmann, their best player, back after picking up a foot injury for France against Sweden on Friday that saw him released by his national team.
“It is a dangerous derby,” Koke said. “We cannot let the gap get bigger. We need to draw at least so that they do not go further ahead. In our head we are thinking about winning the game, as always.”
Koke, who was away with Spain for their international games against Macedonia and England, conceded that results have been mixed so far this season.
“We were leaders, we lost at Sevilla and we dropped to fifth place,” the lifelong Atleti fan said. “It is a bit crazy. In the first international break there was talk of relegation, in the second we were top, and now there are these doubts floating around.”
Diego Simeone and his players will be doing all that they can to make sure they do not slip further behind. Zidane knows all about the dangers: his last defeat as Real manager was against Atletico in February.
Gus Poyet sacked by Real Betis – but the man they call ‘Radio’ is tuned into football
Gus Poyet is as passionate as he is opinionated and outspoken. Not for nothing is he known as “Radio” because he is always speaking, usually about football.
This is a man who, as Sunderland manager, was accosted on the streets of Newcastle by a rival fan and actually enjoyed that the man had the energy and feeling to tell him what he thought about him. It wasn’t complimentary either.
That passion and hardness was one reason why Real Betis made the Uruguayan their manager in the summer. He was welcomed after doing well last term in Greece with AEK Athens, another club where he needed his senses fully alert in the maelstrom of Greek football. He loved it.
He did not have the chance to grow to love Betis. Eleven league games and only 11 points later, the former Chelsea midfielder was sacked. Betis are not bottom of the Primera Liga table, but 14th, slightly below their average league position last season. Fans hoped for more after a summer when they brought in several expensive new players.
Unhappy with his style of football and the team losing twice as many games as they had won, fans said they were going to protest if the Uruguayan wasn’t sacked, issuing a statement which declared: “Either Poyet goes or we go.”
What did he do wrong? Well, he was honest about Betis’ plight, about what he considered a negative attitude at the club and how he hoped to change things once he had worked through “200,000 problems”.
Maybe he was too honest for fans reared on being told how great they are. Pushing the hugely popular top scorer Ruben Castro to the wing and onto the bench did his popularity no favours, nor did a 6-1 home defeat to Real Madrid, or 6-2 drubbing at Barcelona. But 11 games is not enough on which to judge any manager.
Two of those matches were against Barcelona and Real Madrid, one was at Sevilla and another at a fourth top six side, Real Sociedad. Betis had played five of the top six teams, plus Valencia away. These were mitigating factors in Poyet’s favour, but the fans would hear none of it.
Betis, one of only nine teams to have won La Liga, dismissed Poyet on Friday, the sixth man they have sacked in three years. He has been replaced by former Real Madrid midfielder Victor Sanchez. Given the propensity for change at Spain’s fifth best-supported club, Sanchez will not be looking to buy a house in the area just yet.
Poyet, 49, has returned home to be with family near London. Several of his friends, including former Chelsea teammate Roberto di Matteo, are disillusioned with football and do not plan to return to management any time soon.
Poyet does not feel the same way. He has been sacked before and he has bounced back. A football addict, he will be back again.
Player of the week
Sevilla’s all-action striker Vitolo, 27, was Spain’s best player in their 4-0 victory over Macedonia. He is fast, direct and offers a physical prowess which would make him suitable in England’s Premier League, where he is often linked. He cost a bargain €3 million (Dh12m) from Las Palmas three years ago and as well as starring for his club, he is now Spain’s top scorer in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Game of the week
The Madrid derby at the Vicente Calderon is by far the biggest game this weekend. Barcelona are at home to a Malaga side who are poor away; third-place Villarreal face a tough match at Athletic Bilbao.
Sporting Gijon against Real Sociedad will test the Basques’ credentials as a possible top-six finisher.
What else?
With no top flight matches, there was a full fixture list in the lower divisions. Second division leaders Levante are eight points clear at the top and have lost only one of their 14 matches so far. They were surprisingly held at home to mid-table Cadiz at the weekend. Sevilla’s B team – Sevilla Atletico – are second after another win, watched by a crowd of 10,000. Even if they finish in a promotion position, they are not allowed to go up to La Liga.
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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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
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.”
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Credit Score explained
What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
