Pep Guardiola is dreaming of the one shot that could make Manchester City champions of Europe after admitting he never thought at the start of the season that this would be the year when they reached their first final.
During his playing days, the City manager was part of the Barcelona team who ended the club’s long wait to win their maiden European Cup, with victory in 1992 following campaigns in 1959 and 1986, when they were runners-up.
And rather than emulate them, Guardiola hopes City will join the ranks of teams who prevailed at the first time of asking on the biggest stage.
“When we won in ‘92, Barcelona lost before two times, some were unlucky, some of them, so unlucky,” Guardiola said. “Sometimes clubs need more finals to win the first one, in other clubs, it’s just one shot to be the champion. Hopefully, that will be the same.”
City were knocked out in the quarter-finals in the last three seasons but Guardiola said in autumn that he had a “good feeling” about his fifth European campaign with the club.
But he admitted they have surpassed his expectations, adding: “I never approach this competition like this, since I started at Barcelona. We are quite similar teams what we were in the past and when we were out. The margins are little details.
“This year it fell down on our side and a few years ago it was the opposite. It's not changed much. We are quite satisfied to get into the final but we know if you don’t have a huge desire to win it, a huge desire to know exactly what you have to do, then it will not be possible to win the game and win the Champions League.”
Guardiola has told his players there are still positions in his team against Chelsea on Saturday up for grabs. "The starting 11 is still not done, not yet," he said. City's top scorer Ilkay Gundogan, who sat out Sunday's 5-0 win over Everton with a minor knee problem, has pronounced himself fine and has not missed any training sessions.
Chelsea 1 City 3: player ratings
So Guardiola’s selection dilemmas are likely to revolve around whether to pick Oleksandr Zinchenko or Joao Cancelo at left-back and whether Rodri or Fernandinho should anchor the midfield.
But whereas Chelsea’s domestic season went down to the wire, City clinched the Premier League with three games to go. “It will be an advantage if we win, a disadvantage if we lose,” Guardiola mused. “I don’t know.”
Arguably City's best performance of the season came against Chelsea, with a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge in January, but they have lost twice to them since Thomas Tuchel took over.
Guardiola’s friendship with the German dates back to their time in the Bundesliga when they went out for dinner. “We talked football, football, football, football,” he recalled.
Guardiola had the better record in their meetings in their time in Germany and added: “Chelsea create problems for all the teams. It is difficult to stop them for the quality they have. The set-up of the team is wide in the sides, depth, and they are so close, the distances, the players in between, they are closer. They play really good in the pockets, incredibly good in behind.
“When they have the ball it’s difficult to control for the fact they are so close with the distances between players in the middle. The holding midfielders move perfectly between each other.
"At the same time, they make the pitch wide with the wing-backs and so deep. Congratulations on the two games they beat us, this is another competition, the final, and we will see what happens.”
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Match statistics
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 36 Bahrain 32
Harlequins
Tries: Penalty 2, Stevenson, Teasdale, Semple
Cons: Stevenson 2
Pens: Stevenson
Bahrain
Tries: Wallace 2, Heath, Evans, Behan
Cons: Radley 2
Pen: Radley
Man of the match: Craig Nutt (Harlequins)
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
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Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
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Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.