Once his partner in the Italian national team, long a friendly rival across the technical area, Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti reckons that Roberto Mancini owes him one this afternoon.
"I have a very good relationship with him," Ancelotti said before dryly adding: "Not so friendly because he won too many times against me. He has to understand that I am his friend, so sometimes you can leave something to the friend."
Mancini has taken everything from six of their last eight meetings and arrives at Stamford Bridge in by far the more comfortable position. Both ply their trade for billionaire bosses, both have been relegated to bystanders in the Premier League title race, yet only for Ancelotti does that amount to a suspended death sentence.
At Manchester City the priority is to avoid the ill publicity of another change of coach. When their team tumbled out of the Europa League on Thursday night, an exit accelerated by the brainless sending off of a hand-picked Mancini signing, there was no public admonishment from Abu Dhabi for a manager who, realistically, has only the FA Cup to play for. As long as Mancini extracts a top-four finish from the division's most expensive squad he will remain in situ.
For Roman Abramovich, last year's league and FA Cup double has long since been discounted. Chelsea's owner takes every defeat personally, sees a team nine points behind the leaders, out of both domestic cups and more regularly embarrassed than at any point in his turbulent stewardship.
The Russian is, it seems, already preparing Ancelotti's replacement - leaving Champions League success the manager's best hope of survival.
Furnished with the £50 million (Dh298m) emergency acquisition of Fernando Torres, it has not helped Ancelotti's cause that none of his centre forwards have scored in the league since the Spaniard's January deadline-day recruitment.
Four league starts have delivered just one shot on target from a player Abramovich now expects his team to be built around.
Cue the frenzied changing of the formation with which Ancelotti has attempted to accommodate Torres. Five distinct shapes were tried before landing a run of positive results with a system alien to past Ancelotti sides. Not long after his arrival at Chelsea, the elder Italian explained that he would never use such a conventional 4-4-2 because "I don't like to play with the wingers".
With no defined holding midfielder and none of his wide men particularly comfortable in their new positions, the system seems to have been retained more to ride the confidence of a rare run of undefeated outings than because Ancelotti considers it a long-term solution.
"I think there was a time when our play was too slow and we had difficulty to create situations," Ancelotti said. "We use it to press the ball quickly so we can use transitions to create more opportunities. It was good against Copenhagen [in the Champions League]. Sometimes we can change our football, but our philosophy is the same, to play with possession. I think defensively we are more compact with 4-4-2."
Ancelotti's stance on Torres is that he does not care whether the striker scores or not as long as he works hard and the team does. It has not endeared him to Didier Drogba, who, with more shots on target than any other Premier League player and more assists than every striker bar Wayne Rooney, wants out of Stamford Bridge.
"I don't have a first-choice attack. I want to rotate the front players because they are in good condition and are motivated," Ancelotti said before quipping: "And they don't score, so there's no difference.
"It depends on which tactic we want to use. Obviously, if we want to use quick transition and counter-attack then we can use [Nicolas] Anelka because he is quick. If we want power we have to use Drogba."
Mancini has to deal with Mario Balotelli's disruptive behaviour; Ancelotti is at least working with an adult. Torres had remained calm and co-operative, worried more about the impact on the club of his failure to find the net than on himself.
"There is no pressure whatsoever," Torres said. "People make me feel welcome again and as long as the team is winning things are going to be easier. That is what matters. A month ago it looked like we couldn't fight for a position at the top of the table. In three matches things change, Manchester [United] lost and now we are closer to the top [and] in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The best part starts now. I'm adjusting to being here and happy."
Torres will start against City aware that a rare victory over them will propel his team above a direct rival for Champions League qualification. He said today's game "is vital because if we win we can take third place with a game in hand over them which would be a big boost for the team and our confidence levels. And third would be closer to Manchester United, closer to Arsenal".
And that problematic first goal? "It's coming soon. Sunday."
THE MATCH-UP
Key Battle:
David Luiz v Carlos Tevez
Luiz's presence in Chelsea's defence will help them cope with the counter-attacking style of their opponents. However, Luiz, below, is prone to giving away silly fouls and Tevez is very adept at getting into dangerous positions and tempting defenders into making rash challenges.
Tactics
Carlo Ancelotti will be expecting his misfiring strikers to rediscover their scoring touch, with Fernando Torres yet to open his account. Roberto Mancini, the City manager, will look to his players to exploit any gaps left at the back with quick counter-attacks.
Previous meetings
City are unbeaten in their last eight visits to Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have only won their three times in the last seven matches. However, victory over Manchester United two weeks ago has boosted hopes that the hosts are recovering their form for a late title push.
Probable line-ups
Chelsea (4-4-2) Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Malouda; Torres, Drogba
Manchester City (4-3-1-2) Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Y Toure, De Jong, Barry; Silva; Tevez, Dzeko
Facts
• When City defeated Chelsea 4-2 last season it ended their 37-match unbeaten run
• Before the 2009/10 season, City had only won two of 24 league matches against Chelsea
• City have not won away from home in the last eight games in all competitions
sports@thenational.ae
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
Company%C2%A0profile
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202-litre%20direct%20injection%20turbo%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%207-speed%20automatic%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20261hp%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20400Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20From%20Dh134%2C999%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
more from Janine di Giovanni
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
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The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
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The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
