Jude Bellingham continued his devastating form with a brace of goals as Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 to return to the top of La Liga on Saturday.
Girona's 1-0 win at Cadiz temporarily gave the Catalan minnows a one-point lead at the top of the table but Madrid cruised to victory at the Bernabeu to reclaim first place, with Vinicius Junior and Joselu also scoring in the rout.
England international Bellingham, the division's top scorer with eight goals, was at his unstoppable best once more in the final third.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has shifted the former Borussia Dortmund player into a more attacking role behind two central strikers and it has paid dividends.
After scoring a brilliant solo goal against Napoli in midweek in the Champions League and adding two more against Osasuna, the midfielder now has 10 across both competitions in 10 appearances.
"He's in top form, he's showing the player he is, I hope he keeps on like this," Madrid defender Dani Carvajal said.
"I hope he keeps scoring goals and keeps helping us, because he can win us titles."
Ancelotti deployed defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni alongside Antonio Rudiger at the heart of defence, with David Alaba and Eder Militao injured, and Nacho suspended after his rash tackle last weekend against Girona.
However Tchouameni enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the back as Madrid dominated to ensure they will stay perched at the top over the international break.
Madrid broke the deadlock after nine minutes when Luka Modric, afforded a rare start, fed Carvajal who laid the ball off neatly to Bellingham.
The midfielder, who had surged into the box, opened up some space and then blasted home, leaving goalkeeper Sergio Herrera with little chance.
Vinicius fired narrowly over when he might have passed to Bellingham, with Madrid goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga reduced to a mere spectator at the other end.
Bellingham started and finished for Madrid's second goal in the 55th minute, darting forward and playing a one-two with Fede Valverde, before sweeping home, showing the combination of grace and dynamism he is known for.
Vinicius extended Madrid's lead when Valverde sent him running through on goal, with the Brazilian expertly rounding goalkeeper Herrera and tapping home.
The winger turned provider for the fourth goal, setting up on-loan striker Joselu, who gleefully finished for his fifth league goal in his last six games.
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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