BERLIN // Robert Lewandowski is firmly focused on adding to his impressive goal-haul when Bayern Munich hunt a place in the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) final in Tuesday's semi-final at home to Werder Bremen.
Having drawn Atletico Madrid in the last four of the Champions League, Bayern are chasing a repeat of their 2013 treble when they added the Bundesliga and cup titles to their European crown.
They host Bremen, who are fighting for survival in Germany’s top flight, at the Allianz Arena for a place in the May 21 final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
“Now comes the important phase of the season,” said Bayern hot-shot Lewandowski, the Bundesliga’s top-scorer with 27 goals this season – 38 in all competitions.
"We simply have to win after we bowed out against Borussia Dortmund at the same stage. We want to go to Berlin."
Bayern, who have won the German Cup a record 17 times, lost at home to Dortmund on penalties in last season’s semi-finals.
• Read more: Bayern Munich urged to play with 'more ambition and more enjoyment'
• Also see: USA teen Christian Pulisic scores first Bundesliga goal as Borussia Dortmund win – in pictures
Dortmund are away to Hertha Berlin in the other semi-final on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Lewandowski scored twice within 12 minutes in Bayern's 3-0 league win over Schalke having previously gone 390 minutes, and four games, without scoring.
Now the Poland striker has turned his sights on Bremen, who are third from bottom in the Bundesliga.
“I’m really pleased,” he said after finding his scoring touch.
“I hope I will shoot a few more goals in the coming weeks.”
Unusually for him, Lewandowski was on the bench for Bayern’s 2-2 draw at Benfica last Wednesday which confirmed their 3-2 aggregate quarter-final win in Europe.
“You can’t give one hundred per cent in every game when you play a game every three days,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s good to stop and then really go for it when you play again.”
Dortmund are at Berlin 24 hours later in their semi-final looking to exorcise the bitter disappointment of their last-gasp 4-3 Europa League defeat at Liverpool.
Having bowed out of Europe at the last eight stage, Dortmund want to reach this year's German Cup final having lost 3-1 to Wolfsburg in the 2015 edition.
Like Lewandowski, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said the goal is now to make sure his side beat Hertha to return to Berlin’s Olympic Stadium for the final.
The Borussia Dortmund manager rested his stars Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus in Sunday’s 3-0 league win over Hamburg.
He started 17-year-old Felix Passlack at left-back and goal-scorer Christian Pulisic, already a US international who only turns 18 in September, on the left wing.
“We had a few changes and initially found it hard work,” said Tuchel as Colombia striker Adrian Ramos netted twice.
“We’re happy with the 3-0 win and now we’re looking forward to the German Cup semi-final. The task is clear: we want to reach the final.”
Hertha crashed to a 2-1 league defeat at Hoffenheim on Saturday, hardly the ideal preparation as they attempt to reach the German Cup final for the first time since 1993.
Berlin coach Pal Dardai lives within a stone’s throw of the Olympic Stadium and is desperate to lead his team out for the cup final having always attended as a fan.
“The defeat was a wake-up call for us,” said Dardai.
“We conceded two goals from dead-ball situations and we have to be very careful that the same thing doesn’t happen against Dortmund at home.”
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
'The%20Alchemist's%20Euphoria'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kasabian%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EColumbia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results
1.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Al Suhooj, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
2pm Handicap (TB) 68,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner Miracle Maker, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mazagran, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
3pm Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Alla Mahlak, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly
4pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Hurry Up, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
Leeds United 0
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
