A round-up of Tuesday night’s Uefa Champions League action
PORTO v CHELSEA
Jose Mourinho’s return to former club Porto ended in a 2-1 Champions League defeat as Chelsea’s miserable start to the season continued.
Chelsea lost to Porto on Mourinho’s first return in 2004-05 and history repeated itself at Estadio do Dragao as Andre Andre and Maicon scored either side of Willian’s free-kick in the Group G clash.
Eden Hazard dropped to the substitutes bench alongside captain John Terry and Nemanja Matic as Mourinho proved there were no untouchables in his squad.
His hardline approach also followed his outspoken criticism of his players’ attitude, but Mourinho’s words did not have the desired effect as Chelsea looked vulnerable throughout.
BATE BORISOV v ROMA
Belarusian champions Bate Borisov shocked Italian side Roma with a 3-2 win at the Borisov-Arena in Group E.
The current runaway leaders in Belarus hit the visitors with two goals inside the first 12 minutes from Igor Stasevich and Filip Mladenovic before the latter struck a third just after the half-hour.
Gervinho and Vasilis Torosidis scored for Roma, but the defeat left the Serie A outfit bottom of the group with one point from two games as BATE enjoyed their first win over Italian opposition at the 10th attempt.
ARSENAL v OLYMPIAKOS
Greg Lea: Lethargic and lacklustre: Arsenal in serious danger of Champions League group exit
BAYERN MUNICH v DYNAMO ZAGREB
Robert Lewandowski’s phenomenal goalscoring run continued on Tuesday with a treble in Bayern Munich’s 5-0 mauling as Dinamo Zagreb’s 45-match unbeaten run was halted in emphatic fashion.
Lewandowski again ran riot as Mario Goetze and Douglas Costa also netted to put Bayern top of Group F following their 3-0 win at Olympiakos two weeks ago before facing Arsenal away in three weeks.
The Poland striker has now scored 10 goals in his last three games after netting five in just nine spectacular minutes of Bayern’s 5-1 hammering of Wolfsburg last Tuesday before claiming two more in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Mainz.
The thrashing of Zagreb left Bayern three points clear of second-placed Olympiakos in the table following their shock 3-2 win over Arsenal in London.
This was Zagreb’s heaviest away defeat in Europe as the five-goal difference superseded their 6-2 loss at Real Madrid in the group stages four years ago.
Lewandowski now has 17 goals for club and country as Bayern enjoyed an easy win.
MACCABI TEL AVIV v DYNAMO KIEV
Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aluisio Junior Moraes gave Dynamo Kiev a 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Group G.
Yarmolenko struck with just three minutes played and Junior Moraes found the net shortly after half-time to make it four points from two games for Dynamo.
Maccabi, beaten 4-0 by Chelsea two weeks ago, lie bottom of the group without a point to their name.
BARCELONA v BAYER LEVERKUSEN
Andy Mitten: Barcelona struggle without Lionel Messi but do enough to edge past Bayer Leverkusen
LYON v VALENCIA
Valencia got their Champions League campaign up and running with a 1-0 victory at Lyon in Group H.
The Primera Liga side had lost their opener to Zenit St Petersburg but a goal from Sofiane Feghouli just before half time was enough to move them into second place behind the Russians.
Lyon, meanwhile, are still without a win in this season’s competition and have just a single point from their opening two games.
ZENIT v GENT
Oleg Shatov’s second-half goal earned Zenit St Petersburg a 2-1 victory over Gent at the Petrovsky Stadium on Tuesday night to strengthen their position at the top of Group H.
Zenit began strongly in front of their home fans, but had to wait until the 35th minute to take the lead through Artem Dzyuba’s close-range header.
Thomas Matton’s fine 56th-minute volley drew Gent level before Shatov’s cool finish 11 minutes later sealed all three points for the hosts.
Back-to-back wins from their first two games means the Russians sit top of their group on six points — three points clear of second-placed side Valencia — while Gent, who drew 1-1 at home against Lyon on matchday one despite being reduced to nine men, slumped to bottom of the table along with the Ligue 1 side.
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The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Scoreline
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (53')
Atletico Madrid 1
Griezmann (57')
Sunday's fixtures
- Bournemouth v Southampton, 5.30pm
- Manchester City v West Ham United, 8pm
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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.”
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
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Story of 2017-18 so far and schedule to come
Roll of Honour
Who has won what so far in the West Asia rugby season?
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
Fixtures
Friday
West Asia Cup final
5pm, Bahrain (6pm UAE time), Bahrain v Dubai Exiles
West Asia Trophy final
3pm, The Sevens, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Sports City Eagles
Friday, April 13
UAE Premiership final
5pm, Al Ain, Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
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