Robert Lewandowski wore a wry grin. Whatever he tried, his first goal for Barcelona was stubbornly absent. A shot skimmed over the crossbar. Thumping efforts were kept out by the New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. “He’s frustrated,” admitted his head coach, Xavi Hernandez, after Saturday’s friendly, “but the goals will come.”
A few hours earlier, in Leicester, Pep Guardiola was giving Erling Haaland the same reassurance. Haaland had missed a wonderful chance, fluffed a connection with a cross and ended up on the losing side in his competitive debut for Manchester City, the Community Shield against Liverpool.
“Another time, he will put it in the net,” said Guardiola, the City manager, of his club’s new centre-forward. “It’s good for him to see the reality in a new country and a new league.”
In the country and the league Lewandowski and Haaland have just left, you’ll hear few doubts that the ex-Bayern Munich striker, lured to Barcelona, and the former Dortmund prodigy, signed by City, will rack up plenty of goals in the months to come.
In the Bundesliga, which begins its 60th season on Friday, Haaland and Lewandowski were the outstanding global stars who set breathtaking records.
Lewandowski‘s 41 goals in a single league campaign, set in 2020-21, shattered a landmark that had existed for nearly half a century. Haaland struck a hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut, aged 19, having been introduced as a 56th-minute substitute for Dortmund.
Haaland never looked back: his average strike-rate across his two-and-a-half years in Germany’s top division was better than a goal per game. Ditto Lewandowski’s hit-rate in six of the last seven seasons.
To be deprived of both, one in the mature stage of his career - Lewandowski turns 34 this month - and the other, 22-year-old Haaland, with his future prospects towering, deals a double blow to the the Bundesliga’s prestige, a blow worsened for Dortmund, perpetual challengers for the title by the news that Sebastian Haller, the Ivory Coast striker bought from Ajax to replace Haaland, has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Haller will undergo chemotherapy and is given a strong chance of full recovery but will be out for several months.
More responsibility, then, on the young shoulders of Karim Adeyemi, who has followed a similar path to Haaland’s to Dortmund: a breakthrough at RB Salzburg in Austria; a step up at a young age - the quicksilver Adeyemi, already a full Germany international, is 20 - to a club renowned for accelerating the progress of precocious footballers.
Last week, as Dortmund beat 1860 Munich 3-0 in the German Cup, Adeyemi found himself making his competitive debut for the club as part of a front six that included three teenagers: the impressive Jude Bellingham, a worldy 19, the prodigy Youssoufa Moukoko, 17, and the English winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who turns 18 next week.
All of them, and the Dortmund head coach, Edin Terzic, who has returned to the club after a previous spell as caretaker, look up at Bayern and see that, even post-Lewandowski, the champions of the last 10 year look very much like champions-elect.
Sadio Mane, recruited from Liverpool, has had no adjustment issues, judging by his competitive debut. Mane scored the second goal in a 5-3 victory over RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup at the weekend. “Outstanding,” said head coach Julian Nagelsmann of Mane’s influence. “He’s down-to-earth, hard-working and a leader in the dressing-room.”
Bayern have strengthened in central defence, with the €67 million ($68.6m) signing from Juventus of Matthijs de Ligt, in midfield and at full-back with the captures, from Ajax, of De Ligt’s Dutch compatriot Ryan Gravenberch and Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui. “We go into the season feeling good,” said Nagelsmann.
Back in the top flight are wounded giants Werder Bremen and Schalke, the latter still Germany’s third-biggest club by support-base and partially recovered from their disastrous relegation of 2021. They, like Hamburg, former European champions now embarking on a fifth successive season marooned in the second division, are a warning that size guarantees little in a league that, beneath Bayern and Dortmund, can be perilously fluid.
Hertha Berlin, the club from the capital with pretensions of grandeur, must be wary of that. They skirted the drop via a successful promotion-relegation play-off against Hamburg in May, and go into Saturday’s derby against upstarts Union Berlin, fifth last term, having already been knocked out of the Cup by lower-league Eintracht Braunschweig.
Dortmund meet Bayer Leverkusen in a meeting of last season’s second and third-placed clubs, while, on Friday, Bayern kick off matchday one at Eintracht Frankfurt, the Europa League holders and, for that success, one of five Bundesliga clubs who will be in the group stage of the Champions League - evidence that while the star strikers may have left Germany, its league has ample strength in depth.
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
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
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
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.
School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
The biog
Occupation: Key marker and auto electrician
Hometown: Ghazala, Syria
Date of arrival in Abu Dhabi: May 15, 1978
Family: 11 siblings, a wife, three sons and one daughter
Favourite place in UAE: Abu Dhabi
Favourite hobby: I like to do a mix of things, like listening to poetry for example.
Favourite Syrian artist: Sabah Fakhri, a tenor from Aleppo
Favourite food: fresh fish
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
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