At the 2019 Champions League final, Serge Aurier sat two seats along from Juan Foyth among the Tottenham Hotspur substitutes.
No footballer wants to be on the bench for the highlight match of their club career, but, in the opening minute of that final, as Liverpool’s Sadio Mane latched on to a pass and accelerated into precisely the channel that Foyth, or Aurier - both right-sided defenders - would normally patrol, they might have felt momentarily spared.
Mane immediately won a penalty and Mohamed Salah converted it for the first of two unanswered Liverpool goals.
On Wednesday, Foyth and Aurier will likely contest one starting place in an XI on the brink of another Champions League final. Neither would have anticipated that when they swapped North London earlier this season for a small, unfashionable town just off the highway that links Castellon to Valencia.
Villarreal, who take on the Liverpool of Mane, Salah and company in the first leg of their semi-final, are the clear outsiders in this European Cup’s last four. But the diverse past experience spread around their mix-and-match squad means they will not be arriving at Anfield with wide-eyed awe.
If Foyth and Aurier know only too vividly how the Liverpool juggernaut can crush an underdog’s dream, Etienne Capoue, anchor of a Villarreal midfield that tamed Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals and held firm through a last-16 tie against Juventus won via a late flourish, would testify that Anfield intimidates even more than Turin or Munich.
Capoue, one of four ex-Tottenham players in the Villarreal squad, played four times at Anfield during his longer spell at Watford. He lost all four. Three of those defeats were by five-goal margins.
Francis Coquelin scarcely has happier memories of Anfield. The French midfielder lost on his last two visits there as an Arsenal player, 3-1 and 4-0, at a time - in 2017 and 2018 - that, as Villarreal coach Unai Emery described it on Tuesday: “The Liverpool project under Jurgen Klopp was developing its identity.”
Emery prefers to think of the varied backgrounds of his senior players as “proof of their credentials”.
“Many of them know English football,” he stressed, deeming it an advantage. Most also now know what it is to triumph in Europe. Emery guided Villarreal to victory in last season’s Europa League.
The same manager won the same trophy against Klopp’s Liverpool in 2016, when Emery was coaching Sevilla. “Since then Liverpool have gained greater intensity and important players have come in, like Virgil van Dijk, Thiago, Fabinho and more recently Luis Diaz,” Emery said.
“We are going to be facing the best version of Klopp’s Liverpool, because they have added patience to all their running, and to their ability to gain possession high up the field.”
Emery, like many of his ex-Premier League players, used to analyse Liverpool’s progress under Klopp from nearby, while he was managing Arsenal for 18 months from the summer of 2018: “I know how hard it is to play against them. I lost some games there.” One finished 5-1 to Liverpool; another 3-1, and Emery’s Arsenal exited the League Cup at Anfield via a penalty shoot-out following a wild 5-5 draw just a month before Emery was sacked.
Against what he calls the “best” Liverpool, Emery may not quite be able to field his best Villarreal. There are significant fitness doubts over Spain centre-forward Gerard Moreno and the winger Yeremy Pino, and Emery admits that, after the unexpected eliminations of Juventus and Bayern, “our surprise factor has reduced”.
Liverpool will fully expect a deep-lying, well marshalled Villarreal defence and an attacking strategy focused on the counter-attack in the first leg. It was Emery’s successful formula through the previous rounds.
But key individuals, reflecting on how close they are to a European Cup final, cannot help but still feel a surprise factor at how far they have come in such a short time. This time two years ago, winger Arnaut Danjuna, who scored against Juventus and Bayern, was heading towards relegation from the Premier League with Bournemouth. So was Capoue at Watford.
Gio lo Celso, meanwhile, began his European adventure this season as part of a Tottenham team defeated in a Conference League pre-qualifier at Pacos de Ferreira.
Seven months later Lo Celso was putting in a man-of-the-match display to steer Villarreal, who he joined on loan in January, past Bayern. “We all have plenty of motivation,” warned Emery, “to take the next step.”
HOW TO WATCH
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why the Tourist Club?
Originally, The Club (which many people chose to call the “British Club”) was the only place where one could use the beach with changing rooms and a shower, and get refreshments.
In the early 1970s, the Government of Abu Dhabi wanted to give more people a place to get together on the beach, with some facilities for children. The place chosen was where the annual boat race was held, which Sheikh Zayed always attended and which brought crowds of locals and expatriates to the stretch of beach to the left of Le Méridien and the Marina.
It started with a round two-storey building, erected in about two weeks by Orient Contracting for Sheikh Zayed to use at one these races. Soon many facilities were planned and built, and members were invited to join.
Why it was called “Nadi Al Siyahi” is beyond me. But it is likely that one wanted to convey the idea that this was open to all comers. Because there was no danger of encountering alcohol on the premises, unlike at The Club, it was a place in particular for the many Arab expatriate civil servants to join. Initially the fees were very low and membership was offered free to many people, too.
Eventually there was a skating rink, bowling and many other amusements.
Frauke Heard-Bey is a historian and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1968.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Try out the test yourself
Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).
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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