Argentine striker Sergio Aguero is in line to make his long-awaited La Liga debut for Barcelona on Sunday and the club will hope his presence in the team can provide a much-needed boost following a disappointing start to the season.
Aguero, 33, joined Barca on a free transfer in the summer after a trophy-laden decade with Manchester City in which he became the fourth leading scorer in Premier League history and struck 260 times to become the club's all-time top scorer.
But the excitement of his arrival was quickly overshadowed by Lionel Messi's shock departure in August, which was soon followed by Aguero, a close friend of the former captain, injuring a calf muscle. He resumed full training this week and is expected to be on the bench when Barca host Valencia looking to respond to their 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid before the international break.
Aguero's return comes at an ideal time for Barca, who have one win in their last six games in all competitions and failed to score in four of them to turn up the pressure on manager Ronald Koeman.
Barcelona failed to have a shot on target in each of their 3-0 defeats in the Champions League to Bayern Munich and Benfica respectively and only tested Atletico keeper Jan Oblak twice in their loss to the champions.
Aguero meanwhile, has his own point to prove after struggling with fitness problems for most of the last 12 months, in which he had to endure numerous setbacks including two knee injuries and a long period out due to coronavirus.
He also expected to be playing with Messi and in a side challenging for the title rather than in one that is ninth in the table and bottom of their Champions League group.
"The majority of players want to wear this shirt, whether Barca are doing well or badly. I arrived with the expectation of playing with Leo and that a big team would be assembled, which was the club's aim," Aguero told newspaper El Pais on Thursday.
"But you can only be a starter when you are playing well and helping the team. That's what I'm thinking about, helping the team with a goal every time I play regardless of the changes the team has undergone, among them Leo's departure."
Elsewhere in La Liga, Real Sociedad have the chance to go three points clear at the top when they host Mallorca on Saturday.
Leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Atletico are not playing after their matches were postponed due to La Liga's rift with Fifa over South America's World Cup qualifiers.
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
