As soon as Lionel Messi crosses the touchline at the Alfredo di Stefano arena on the outskirts of Madrid on Saturday, he will create history. It goes everywhere with him, one record after another, one milestone and then the next.
He will join Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, who misses this weekend’s Real versus Barcelona clash with injury, as the footballer who has played in more clasicos than any other. If, in his 45th appearance in the celebrated fixture, Messi scores, he will have done so in a 70th different stadium as a Barcelona player, the Di Stefano – named after the late Madrid legend – being Real’s temporary home while the Bernabeu is under renovation.
If Messi ends up on the winning side, as he has in 19 clasicos, then a 11th Liga title for Messi will loom larger on his horizon. Three points would take Barcelona to the top of the Spanish table.
But it’s what Messi feels when he crosses back over that touchline after the final whistle that will draw just as much attention as whether or not Bareclona move above the leaders, Atletico Madrid.
Might this really be his last direct participation in club football's most famous rivalry? His contract expires in less than three months time; he tried to leave last August. He is at a Barcelona in transition, knocked out of the Champions League unusually early, battling against the possibility that for the second year running they might go without a trophy.
As long as Messi, 33, keeps his intentions about his future to himself, as he has for the last nine months, every week seems like a threshold, a crossroads in his journey. But the next eight days really do look crucial for how he weighs up his dilemma, assesses the benefits of staying with the club he grew up with, or explores one of the many offers from elsewhere for a fresh adventure next season.
Beyond the clasico, there’s the Copa del Rey final next weekend – Barcelona versus Athletic Bilbao. Win that, and Messi will be the captain who lifts the trophy.
All of which is a far healthier outlook than four months ago, when Barcelona were seventh in La Liga, 12 points behind pacesetters Atletico. They had just lost to Cadiz, and would follow up with a 3-0 home defeat to Juventus in the Champions League.
Barca were absolutely matching the description Messi had given of them shortly before he asked unsuccessfully to leave last August. A “weak team”, he had called Barcelona, “a team that can be beaten by any opponents who show intensity.”
The turnaround since the turn of the year has not been miraculous – Paris Saint-Germain won 4-1 at Camp Nou to bundle Barcelona out of Europe – but it has changed the domestic landscape.
Messi leads a team unbeaten in 19 La Liga matches, drawing just three of them. The captain has scored 19 times in 17 appearances in that run. He is heading the race to be the league’s leading marksman for the eighth time in his career.
He has a new club president, Joan Laporta, elected last month. Messi's relationship with Laporta's predecessor, Josep Maria Bartomeu, had deteriorated badly, and helped motivate his attempt to free himself from his contract.
Laporta is different, an old friend and ally, having previously served as president when Messi made his Barcelona debut, and when he won the first and second of his four Champions League titles with the club.
“I am here to persuade Messi to stay,” Laporta announced on his election as president, for his second stint. He is working hard at it. Part of that persuasion involves assembling, on a budget diminished by rising debts and finances constrained by the pandemic, a squad for 2021-22 that looks like it can compete with the elite again.
Messi, for the first time in 14 seasons, has spent this week watching a Champions League quarter-final round without Barcelona involved. He watched wins for Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, two clubs he has been linked with.
Most attention, though, was reserved for Real Madrid 3, Liverpool 1. Barcelona are not the only ones carrying form and momentum into the clasico: Madrid are 12 games unbeaten, have the strong scent of a European Cup semi-final, and the defence of their league title revived after stumbles against modest opposition.
A win would take them joint top. “We have turned the season around,” said head coach Zinedine Zidane, “and because of the character of this team, there’s no limit to what we can aim for.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More coverage from the Future Forum
Her most famous song
Aghadan Alqak (Would I Ever Find You Again)?
Would I ever find you again
You, the heaven of my love, my yearning and madness;
You, the kiss to my soul, my cheer and
sadness?
Would your lights ever break the night of my eyes again?
Would I ever find you again?
This world is volume and you're the notion,
This world is night and you're the lifetime,
This world is eyes and you're the vision,
This world is sky and you're the moon time,
Have mercy on the heart that belongs to you.
Lyrics: Al Hadi Adam; Composer: Mohammed Abdel Wahab
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EClara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPatrick%20Rogers%2C%20Lee%20McMahon%2C%20Arthur%20Guest%2C%20Ahmed%20Arif%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELegalTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%244%20million%20of%20seed%20financing%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWamda%20Capital%2C%20Shorooq%20Partners%2C%20Techstars%2C%20500%20Global%2C%20OTF%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Knuru%20Capital%2C%20Plug%20and%20Play%20and%20The%20LegalTech%20Fund%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
The five pillars of Islam
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
Naga
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
The specs: 2018 Ford F-150
Price, base / as tested: Dh173,250 / Dh178,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 395hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 555Nm @ 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 12.4L / 100km
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The five pillars of Islam
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
