Ronaldo, Marcelo, Ramos: Manuel Pellegrini’s understated legacy at Real Madrid

Back in 2009, Manuel Pellegrini’s unveiling as Real Madrid manager was fairly low-key, at least measured by the standards of the man who followed him as manager at Spain’s most decorated club, Jose Mourinho.

Pellegrini can anticipate that Pep Guardiola, his successor at Manchester City, will hear a louder fanfare than Pellegrini had, when Guardiola takes over there.

That is Pellegrini’s way: understated, low key, at least in his public persona.

When he joined Madrid nearly seven years ago, there was not much space for another gala introduction.

The same close-season witnessed several noisy cavalcades roaring into the Bernabeu stadium.

Fans crowded into the grandstands as if for a big cup match simply to see Cristiano Ronaldo put on a podium, wearing an all-white strip for the first time, and perform some keepy-uppies. Ronaldo was presented to madridistas as the most expensive footballer in history, signed from Manchester United.

One of Pellegrini’s tasks during his single season at Madrid, the club his City take on tonight in the semi-finals of the Uefa Champions League, was to make Ronaldo feel at home and have him start paying back Madrid’s enormous investment, a fee of over €80 million (nearly Dh331m).

The Chilean manager had been asked to take over at a club in major transition.

Presidential elections had recently returned Florentino Perez to the main seat in the boardroom, for Perez’s second term in charge.

Rivals Barcelona had just won a treble.

A hero, Raul, was the club captain but well into his thirties.

Ronaldo was the new star, so was Kaka, another summer arrival.

Raul’s days were numbered.

Some of the numbers Pellegrini’s Madrid then generated were spectacular. Raul, then the club’s greatest all-time goalscorer, may have been an irregular player in his last season at Madrid, often used from the bench, but Madrid had no shortage of goals.

They scored more than 100 times in their 38 Primera Liga matches, a new landmark. Ronaldo contributed 26 of those.

Karim Benzema, who like Ronaldo has fitness problems that could limit his participation in tonight’s first leg in Manchester, was also new to Madrid at the outset of 2009/10.

Perez had pushed hard for the recruitment of the French striker, held him in high regard and would have liked the new manager to coax more consistency from Benzema.

The player was only 21 when he joined, and his inconsistency at centre-forward betrayed an immaturity.

Competition for places in the forward line posed Pellegrini dilemmas.

There was Raul, a veteran but still an instinctive finisher with a never-say-die spirit.

There was Ronaldo.

There was Gonzalo Higuain, who outscored all of them.

Benzema remained a work in progress even when Mourinho succeeded Pellegrini.

The South American manager lasted only a year. Some at the club advised the president to stick with him.

Madrid accumulated the sort of points total that in most seasons would have won the league. But they were short of the standards set by Barcelona, then Guardiola’s Barcelona.

And in the knockout competitions, they flopped, beaten early and humiliatingly by third-tier Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey, eliminated at the last-16 stage by Lyon in the Champions League.

If the Pellegrini period at Madrid was not a glorious one, nor is it remembered as gloomy.

Hindsight permits him a pat on the back for the development of Marcelo during the 2009/10 season.

He saw the Brazilian left-back’s outstanding potential as an attacking player and used him midfield frequently to permit him to exploit that. Marcelo thrived, and has established himself as a key Madrid player since.

Pepe, the pugnacious central defender, regained respect under Pellegrini, after serving a long suspension for violent conduct the previous season.

Sergio Ramos, now Pepe’s partner, shifted across positions in defence during the Pellegrini season, and had the opportunity to show his strengths as a right-back, the position that gave him a place in the Spain national team.

He won the World Cup playing at full-back in July.

Pellegrini had by then been told to look for a new job.

sports@thenational.ae

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport

More from Neighbourhood Watch:

A rare glimpse of Bedouin life in the humble border town of Qoa

The changing face of Mussaffah

Hatta, where present and past collide

How old Dubai moved with the times and kept its heart

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.”

Match info

Newcastle United 1
Joselu (11')

Tottenham Hotspur 2
Vertonghen (8'), Alli (18')

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.

8. Pillar 2 implementation

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer