Guardiola points out quality in Arsenal

MUNICH // Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola intends to prepare his free-scoring side to face an Arsenal team ready to bring their own best form to the Allianz Arena.

The Germans warmed up for the second leg of the last-16 Uefa Champions League tie, in which they hold a 2-0 advantage, with a 6-1 triumph at Wolfsburg to move 20 points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga standings.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will be looking to take confidence from Saturday's 4-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton, and Guardiola is all too aware of the threat the English team can pose when firing on all cylinders.

“The quality is there,” said the former Barcelona coach, acknowledging the impressive 2-0 win for Arsene Wenger’s men in Bavaria last season, which saw them go out on away goals only.

“When I analyse Arsenal and the first game, we saw the quality of [Santi] Cazorla, we saw what happened until the penalty [Mesut] Ozil missed, what happened in the first nine minutes they were the nine minutes in this season when the opponent was better against us. They remain a good club, a good team

“If you play in a really good team like Arsenal and are 2-0 down, anything is possible.

“People think ‘2-0 you don’t have a chance in Munich’, but that’s the main problem for us. They have [Per] Mertesacker, [Tomas] Rosicky, [Kieran] Gibbs, [Mikel] Arteta – a lot of very good players.

“I do not want to see Ozil control the game. That will be a big problem for us. This is not an easy game. We have to attack, give our best, be aggressive without the ball.”

The penalty save by Manuel Neuer from his Germany teammate Ozil seemed to suck the life out of the Emirates Stadium home support, with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny soon sent off before second-half goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller put the Bundesliga side in control of the tie.

Ozil was given some time away after picking up a dead leg, but returned to form when he scored the first goal in the win over Everton and had a hand in two more.

Guardiola feels the German playmaker can continue to grow in his new environment following a £42.5 million (Dh259.7m) switch from Real Madrid on deadline day in September.

“I never played in England, or trained a team, so I don’t know how difficult it is, but I can imagine how difficult it is for Ozil to play every three games in November, December, January,” Guardiola said. “But this is one game, it is a final, Arsenal know that, Ozil knows that. For one game, the player puts in everything.

“From my experience, I expect the performance from the opponents. Ozil will give the best performance and we have to be prepared.”

sports@thenational.ae

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Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

Daniel Bardsley

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Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)

Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg

Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD

The UN General Assembly President in quotes:

YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”

PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”

OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”

REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”