Dress to impress the Old Lady

Chelsea will be in their finery in Turin tonight, but a visit to Juventus in the Champions League is not usually a refined sort of evening. Juventus have every right to emit optimistic noises before a second leg projecting such an air of widespread unpredictability. Claudio Ranieri's side were only undone by the swiftness of Didier Drogba's goal in the first leg of this last-16 gathering.

They retain an avid interest in a competition they have won twice. At the behest of their coach Guus Hiddink and his quest for players to project a professional sheen, Chelsea will arrive at the Stadio Olimpico dressed in their Armani suits. Hiddink's men will need to don the footballing equivalent of overalls to get the job done. A place in the last eight is available, but this could yet get rather messy for Chelsea.

The London side have already come up short in Italy this season. Under Luiz Felipe Scolari, Chelsea succumbed 3-1 to AS Roma in the group stages. Such an outcome would leave the Old Lady singing. Ranieri, a former Chelsea manager, rates his side's chances as "45-55 per cent" probably due to their failure to register an away goal. Juventus are used to overcoming such obstacles. They have recovered from a first-leg deficit four times in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, a feat unrivalled in the tournament, but are without a win in their past eight outings against English sides. They will also be mindful of that harrowing night in 1999 when they blew a 3-1 aggregate lead against Manchester United.

A timeless Juventus side boast sparkling campaigners in Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero. They are hardly creaking. A 1-0 win over Torino on Saturday saw them maintain second place in Serie A behind Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan. Chelsea were sent to Coventry in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday. They returned with a 2-0 win. Michael Essien returned as a substitute after six months out with a knee injury.

Essien is likely to start. Such a match seems ideal for his versatility and robustness. Whatever is said, Hiddink is now overseeing a cup campaign at Chelsea, relying on the FA Cup and Champions League to signal whether or not this season has been a rich experience. Like Liverpool, any hope of landing the Premier League depends on the collapse of Manchester United. Such a scenario sounds as likely as the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich hosting a tea party for Ranieri and Mourinho during his time in Italy.

Mohamed Sissoko has broken a bone in his left foot and will not play for Juventus, while Chelsea could be without Nicolas Anelka due to an ankle problem. The visitors will look the part tonight, but even with their club ties knotted to perfection, they are unlikely to leave Juventus tied up in knots. @Email:dkane@thenational.ae

Tell Me Who I Am

Director: Ed Perkins

Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis

Four stars

Banned items

Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:

Drones
Animals
Fireworks/ flares
Radios or power banks
Laser pointers
Glass
Selfie sticks/ umbrellas
Sharp objects
Political flags or banners
Bikes, skateboards or scooters

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

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 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