Real Madrid and Bayern Munich renew their storied European rivalry in the Uefa Champions League on Wednesday night knowing only one of the football heavyweights will advance to the final.
Here are five things to know ahead of the opening match:
Ronaldo, Bale set
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to return against Bayern after the Madrid forward completed a full training session on Monday for the first time since hurting his left leg.
Ronaldo was nursing a sore knee before the muscle injury popped up and left the Portugal international, who is tied for the tournament record of 14 goals in one season, sidelined for four games.
Gareth Bale, meanwhile, missed Monday’s training due to flu but should be available.
Madrid, who enjoyed a full week off before the match, will also likely be able to count on left-back Marcelo returning from injury.
Bayern injuries
Manuel Neuer should be fit to line up in the Bayern goal after recovering from a calf injury. The Germany goalkeeper missed the German Cup semi-final win over Kaiserslautern and the 2-0 league win at Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday, but returned to running exercises last Thursday.
“I feel quite good. I presume I’ll be able to play,” said Neuer, who trained over the weekend, as did injured defenders David Alaba and Diego Contento.
Improvement needed
After failing to impress in Saturday’s win at bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig, Bayern need to improve for arguably their toughest games of the season.
“We won’t reach the final if we don’t produce two outstanding performances,” said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, whose side failed to win in three Bundesliga games after clinching the title.
“We’re a good team when we play at full throttle. We’re not at our best level at the moment and it’s clear we need to improve.”
Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said Bayern need “at least one goal. That was shown by the Dortmund against Real Madrid games.” Dortmund lost 3-0 in Madrid and were eliminated despite beating the Spanish side 2-0 at home.
Tough choices
Carlo Ancelotti’s line-up to face Bayern will be a tough choice, as midfielder Isco has been stellar in stepping in for the injured Ronaldo. But the Spain international looks set to be sacrificed with Ronaldo’s return and Angel Di Maria’s continued good form.
Ancelotti elected to keep Di Maria over Mesut Ozil last summer, selling the Germany playmaker to Arsenal.
‘The Black Beast’
Dubbed “la bestia negra” or “the black beast” by fearful Madrid fans, Bayern have come to represent a thorn in the side of record nine-time winners Madrid.
Bayern, five-time champions, won semi-finals in 1976, 1987, 2001 and 2012, with Madrid’s sole win coming in 2000.
Altogether, Bayern have 11 wins from 20 meetings, with Madrid’s seven wins all coming at home. Madrid are unbeaten at home in the Champions League for 17 games dating to 2011, when Guardiola guided Barcelona to a 2-0 victory.
Guardiola has never lost as a coach at the Bernabeu. Madrid do have a wild card in coach Ancelotti, who has never lost in six meetings against Bayern including four victories.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT)
Tuesday
Mairobr v Liverpool
Spartak Moscow v Sevilla
Feyenoord v Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City v Napoli
Monaco v Besiktas
RB Leipzig v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur
Wednesday
Benfica v Manchester United
CSKA Moscow v Basel
Bayern Munich v Celtic
Anderlecht v Paris Saint-Germain
Qarabag v Atletico Madrid
Chelsea v Roma
Barcelona v Olympiakos
Juventus v Sporting Lisbon
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
