Images from around the first legs of Champions League third-round qualifying play-offs on Tuesday, the final round that feeds into group play.
Story, below, by Reuters:
Besiktas hit the bar straight from kickoff as they were held 0-0 at home by Arsenal in Tuesday’s Champions League play-offs while a superb Gonzalo Higuain goal rescued Napoli in a 1-1 draw with visitors Athletic Bilbao.
Jonatan Soriano struck the woodwork three times and scored in Salzburg’s 2-1 win over visiting Malmo, Bayer Leverkusen won 3-2 at FC Copenhagen and a late goal gave Steaua Bucharest a 1-0 home win over Ludogorets Razgrad in the other first leg ties.
Arsenal, aiming to reach the group stage for the 17th season in a row, will be happy to have survived their tricky trip to Istanbul, especially after Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey was sent off in the 80th minute for a second bookable offence.
Beskitas’ Senegal forward Demba Ba, who scored a hat-trick in the previous round against Feyenoord, took a pot-shot at goal straight from kickoff and his effort, aided by the swirling wind, forced Wojciech Szczesny to push the ball on to the bar.
The Polish keeper also turned away Ba’s fierce left-footed volley after 10 minutes as Arsenal survived a difficult opening.
Despite losing Ramsey, Arsenal nearly grabbed the winner when Tolga Zengin tipped Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s curling effort on to the post.
“It was a very good game played with a good pace, a frenetic pace from the first to the last minute,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told ITV. “In the end we didn’t lose the game and hopefully we can make it at home.”
Serie A was left in danger of having only two teams in the group stage after Napoli, playing their first competitive match of the season, failed to beat Bilbao.
Iker Muniain side-footed the visitors ahead four minutes before halftime as Napoli struggled to find their rhythm.
But the Italian side’s Argentina forward Higuain levelled in the 68th minute when he brilliantly pulled down a pass and, despite being surrounded by three defenders, managed to make space and score with a low shot into the far corner.
Jose Callejon and Higuain missed sitters and the latter also saw a close-range effort brilliantly stopped by Gorka Iraizoz as Napoli pressed in a frenetic ending.
“Considering the way the game went, we can consider our reaction positive and must begin again from that,” said Napoli coach Rafael Benitez.
Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg, who have been eliminated in the qualifiers six times since Red Bull’s takeover in 2005, once again made life difficult for themselves against Malmo.
Franz Schiemer and Soriano put them 2-0 up in less than an hour and the Spaniard also hit the woodwork three times as Salzburg dominated the game.
But the game ended farcically for the hosts when a mix-up between Schiemer and keeper Peter Gulacsi in the 90th left Emil Forsberg to tap into an empty net for the 1979 European Cup runners-up, who have never played in the group stage.
Denmark’s chances of having two sides in the group stage for the first time look remote after Copenhagen’s home defeat against sesoned campaigners Leverkusen.
Stefan Kiessling gave the Bundesliga side a fifth minute lead, only for the Danes to hit back with headed goals by Mathias Jorgensen and Daniel Amartey before 15 minutes was up.
Karim Bellarabi and Son Heung-min replied before halftime for Leverkusen who should wrap up the tie at home on Aug. 27.
Former European champions Steaua Bucharest gave themselves a slender lead to take to Bulgaria when Alexandru Chipciu scored the only goal in the 88th minute.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.”
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
