Luis Suarez, left, thanks Andres Iniesta after the Barcelona set up one of his four goals in the 6-0 thrashing of Sporting Gijon. Denis Doyle/Getty Images
Luis Suarez, left, thanks Andres Iniesta after the Barcelona set up one of his four goals in the 6-0 thrashing of Sporting Gijon. Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Football

Luis Suarez hails Barcelona teammates: ‘Messi is the one who manages everything; Iniesta’s magic is always there’

The pair helped him score four goals for the second La Liga game in a row as Barcelona thumped Sporting Gijon 6-0 on Saturday.

Reuters

April 24, 2016

BARCELONA // Luis Suarez paid tribute to teammates Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta after the pair helped him score four goals for the second La Liga game in a row as Barcelona thumped Sporting Gijon 6-0 on Saturday.

The Uruguay hitman became the first La Liga player to score four goals for the second successive match, keeping Barca top of the table on goal difference ahead of Atletico Madrid, with Real Madrid one point adrift in third position.

Read more:

• In pictures: Barcelona's Luis Suarez makes La Liga history with second successive four-goal haul

• Diego Forlan: Diego Forlan: Leicester City, Barcelona and the unique pressures of leading a title race

• In pictures: The Luis Suarez show as Barcelona get back on track with thrashing of Deportivo

“Leo is the one who manages everything, all the stages of the game, and we are eternally grateful to him,” said Suarez.

“Andres’s magic is always there, that’s why he has the name he has. He has been a really important player for us this year.”

Suarez netted four times, twice from the penalty spot, in the space of 25 second-half minutes as Barca followed up their midweek 8-0 rout of Deportivo La Coruna.

“I am a bit surprised to score eight goals in four days,” said Suarez who was on target twice from open play following good passes from fellow striker Messi and midfielder Iniesta.

The former Liverpool forward now has 34 league goals this season, moving ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (31) as the top scorer with three games to go.

Suarez is also in line to claim the Golden Boot as Europe’s leading marksman, a prize he shared with Ronaldo in 2013/14.

However, he is more focused on firing Barca to the league title.

“Being top scorer wasn’t my objective and now we have three games left, and with the help of my teammates, if I can do it I’ll welcome it but the priority for the team is the league,” said Suarez.

Barcelona were awarded a third penalty late on and the Uruguayan gave the ball to Brazil forward Neymar to convert from the spot, a move which impressed defender Gerard Pique.

“He has proved for a long time that he’s generous,” said Pique. “We hope he spends many more years here.”

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg

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.”