It’s business as usual at the top of the Serie A table as joint leaders AS Roma and Juventus have maximum points heading into the fifth round of fixtures.
Juventus have yet to concede a goal and the three-time defending Italian champions visit Atalanta on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Roma host Verona.
Elsewhere, Fiorentina travel to Torino and Napoli visit Sassuolo looking to kick-start their campaigns after disappointing starts.
There is also a derby match on Sunday night as Genoa entertain Sampdoria.
Here are the things to know about the Italian league entering this week’s games:
Two horse race?
Juventus and Roma are the only sides which have won all four of their opening Serie A matches this season and new Juve manager Max Allegri is slowly beginning to win his doubters round.
Roma pushed Juventus all the way last campaign and look set to do the same this time around after spending more than twice as much as any other Italian club in the summer transfer window – EU€55 million (Dh257m). Coach Rudi Garcia insisted it is not yet a two-horse race for the title.
“Allegri has nothing to prove, he is a great manager and we know it,” Garcia said. “He has at his disposal a strong squad, which is looking to achieve top targets.
“We tried to reduce the gap in the summer, but it is still too early to talk about a Juventus-Roma duel.”
Invincible Juve
Juventus beat Cesena 3-0 on Wednesday to become the first team in Serie A history to win their opening four matches without conceding a goal.
Juve’s invincibility goes back further, however, as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has not had to pick a ball out of his net since April 28 – a run of nine matches.
“At the end of the day, it’s always nice to break records but winning is what counts,” Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner said. “What has always been one of our strong points is that all the players attack and defend in unison.
“We have strikers and midfielders at our disposal who give their all and this offers us security.”
Title rivals Roma conceded their first goal of the season in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory at Parma.
Benitez clinging
This weekend could see the first sacking of the Serie A season, with Napoli coach Rafa Benitez hanging on to his job by an ever thinning thread after a dismal start to the season.
Napoli were dumped out of the Champions League before the competition even really got started as they lost the final qualifying round play-off to Athletic Bilbao, and they have won just one of their opening Serie A fixtures.
The pressure continues to mount after Benitez’s team lost 1-0 at Udinese last weekend before letting slip a 2-0 advantage to draw 3-3 at home to newly-promoted Palermo on Wednesday.
“It’s a question of calmness which we’re lacking at the moment and we need to get back, but in order to do so we need results, we need to be solid and compact,” Benitez said. “I’ve got to work on our mistakes.
“But not being in the Champions League and having a difficult start to the season makes everyone more nervous. For that reason I say that we need to get our calmness back.”
Napoli visit Sassuolo on Sunday.
Shaky Milan
Confidence has fallen in the AC Milan camp after a positive start to the season.
The mood was buoyant after Milan kicked off the season with two victories under new coach Filippo Inzaghi, but they lost at home to Juventus and were then forced to fight back from two goals down to draw at newly-promoted Empoli.
Milan are blazing in attack, having found the back of the net 10 times this campaign, and Fernando Torres scored in his first start for the club at Empoli.
However, they are looking decidedly shaky at the back, where they have already let in eight goals. Milan have not conceded as many goals in their opening four matches for 31 years and only Parma have a worse defensive record.
On Sunday, Milan visit Cesena, who have scored just three times so far this season.
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
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Al Nassr 3
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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.”
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- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
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