Pep Guardiola was fighting back tears. Diego Simeone could not help but giggle – two distinguished champions, nearly 2,000 kilometres apart, responding in different ways to an emotional last weekend of the domestic season.
“I don’t know why but I’m just laughing and laughing,” said Simeone, having just spent 67 of the previous 90 minutes watching his Atletico Madrid jeopardise their lead at the top of Spain’s first division, and almost ten years cultivating an image of grizzly, unsmiling toughness.
The release of tension can play all sorts of tricks. Guardiola's tears were brought on by the combination of supporters, at last, being present at the Etihad Stadium and the heartfelt goodbyes to Sergio Aguero, who had just played his last home match for Manchester City. The title already won, City's was a ceremonial last day, tears permitted.
Atletico’s D-day was about stress and suspense. In both the last two matches where they needed to win to stave off Real Madrid’s pursuit, Atletico fell behind. Twice they came back for 2-1 wins. Simeone may have been laughing, but only once the final whistle had gone at Valladolid, site of the conclusive comeback win.
It gave Atletico their second Liga title of the Simeone era. And it is an era. Nine and a half years is an extraordinarily long time for an elite coach to remain in charge of the same club. It is almost twice the time Guardiola has been at City, where he now counts as a long-term stayer. Both he and Simeone have come to define their clubs.
They are rarities for that, and will be rarer still by this time in a year, assuming they both remain in the jobs they are strongly committed to. A summer of major changes in the hottest of coaching hotseats is ahead, and the managerial merry-go-round was swinging into action within hours of the closing weekend of Europe’s top leagues.
Hansi Flick had already told Bayern Munich – the one club across the top six European leagues that retained their league title – that his 18-month, seven-trophy stint would be ending. Next onto the Bayern whirligig, their sixth coach since Guardiola left Munich in 2016, will be 33-year-old Julian Nagelsmann.
Flick is expected to take over the Germany national squad after the European championship. But he would know this is a good time in the marketplace to be at the peak of your coaching powers, with big jobs becoming vacant.
Christophe Galtier, who on Sunday guided Lille to the French league title, ahead of serial champions Paris-Saint-Germain, knows that too. The 54-year-old, a former assistant coach of Al Ain, already has offers from wealthier French clubs than Lille.
In Spain, Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane, who has finished a full season as coach without a trophy for the first time, are edging towards a break-up, with talks scheduled for this week. Barcelona's president and directors meanwhile contemplate whether Ronald Koeman, who won them the Copa del Rey but buckled in a tight Liga title-race, should see through the second year of his contract.
Koeman fears the signals are gloomy. “In the last part of the season I have not felt the club’s support,” said the Dutchman. There is within the boardroom a lobby in favour of the ex-Barcelona captain Xavi, under contract at Al Sadd in Qatar, his first coaching job. And also some interest in Mikel Arteta’s work at Arsenal, who finished eighth in the Premier League but whose points record over the second half of the season was bettered only by City and Manchester United.
In Italy’s Serie A, where a dramatic last day spared Juventus, the deposed champions, from the ignominy of finishing outside the top four – thanks to Napoli drawing at Verona – one head coach departed immediately.
Napoli’s Rino Gattuso knew it was coming. He now carries into his next job – and there will be offers – the bittersweet record of having missed out on Champions League football by a point with two clubs.
He did it at AC Milan in 2018 and now Napoli, who if they had held their 1-0 lead at Verona, would have stayed above Juventus, who will review Andrea Pirlo’s flawed debut season as coach amid strong doubts about Pirlo’s immediate future.
Roma, who finished seventh, said farewell to Paulo Fonseca and have installed Jose Mourinho for next season, where he will be guiding them into the inaugural Europa Conference League. The competition is unflatteringly described as Uefa’s ‘Third Division’, but is now spiced up by the prospect that, in it, Mourinho’s Roma might play Tottenham Hotspur, Mourinho’s most recent previous employer.
Who leads Spurs there is an open question. They are also seeking a new manager in a summer where the jostle to land the best will be intense.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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.”
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
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
