Diego Simeone planned to be nowhere near his television, nor his smartphone on Thursday. Or so he promised himself. “If I was anxious and stressed last week, I’m even more so now,” said the Atletico Madrid head coach after his latest ride on the rollercoaster that is La Liga’s title race.
The result of the Granada-Real Madrid match would reach him soon enough, he reasoned, without having to live every moment of it. Besides, it need not disturb Atletico’s focus.
They are top and have the destiny of the championship, a prize they last held in 2014, in their own hands. Wednesday night's 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad ensured that – even if over the 90 minutes Simeone sensed some of the jitters that keep afflicting his league-leaders.
The penultimate day of a thriving run-in is Sunday. Outside Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium for the visit of Osasuna, there will again be fans gathered, projecting their chants and songs over the walls of an arena that is new enough that it has yet to celebrate a Liga triumph for its tenants. And, being so modern, has seemed especially echoey through this season of crowdless football.
Naturally, Simeone wishes those supporters were inside. One of the features of his long stint as head coach – coming up to ten years – has been the communion he, a touchline jack-in-the-box, has developed with the fans. He misses that energy.
“Football needs people,” said Simeone on Wednesday, after he saw his players’ dynamism drop off in the later stages of a game for the second time in five days. “Now that things are opening up again, we ought to be looking at how to make it happen in football.”
Some stadiums in Spain will this month allow limited numbers of fans in, depending on the relevant regional Covid-19 regulations. But the matches which count towards the title race will all be followed by supporters from distance.
An audible distance, Simeone hopes, as long as the Atletico loyalists who shout from outside the Metropolitano observe health protocols. “To start the game hearing our people sing from afar is emotional,” said the head coach.
Atletico’s strong starts to matches are important. Revved-up first-halves have helped keep Atletico top of the table. At Barcelona at the weekend, they owned the opening 45 minutes, kept at bay by some sharp goalkeeping from Barca’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Three days later, against Real Sociedad, they were 2-0 up within the first half-hour.
But this has not been a smooth approach to the title for Simeone’s men. Had Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, joining a forceful Barca comeback in the second-half, not headed wastefully over the bar in the closing stages, Atletico would have been deposed at the summit. Having begun with such authority against Real Sociedad, Simeone ended the night counting down the seconds, Igor Zubeldia narrowing the scoreline eight minutes from full-time.
“Two-nil turns into 2-1 and you start to feel the butterflies in your stomach,” admitted Simeone. “There is tiredness, there is anxiety. It’s not easy but then this has been a hard year for every team.”
Yet not many have exhibited the chronic effects of pressure and fatigue like Atletico. At the beginning of February they were 11 points clear at the top.
They have led the table after 24 matchdays of the 36 played, but the pattern of their last two games, shifting from bullish Atletico into anxious Atletico tells the story, in miniature, of their whole league season. Their first 20 matches of the campaign included just one loss and two draws. In the last eight games they have dropped 10 points.
In these tense times, Simeone looks to old allies, those who have been with him longest on the journey from flakey, brittle underachievers to a club capable of breaking the shared Barca and Real Madrid stranglehold on the Spanish title. Men like captain, Koke, who played his 500th Atletico match on Wednesday, a milestone marked with an unusual degree of emotion by his coach.
“I’m so proud of him,” said Simeone. “When I came in, he was about to leave to join Malaga, and I said to him, ‘Listen, I have no arguments yet to offer you on why should have faith in me, but I want you to stay.’” Two agonising, lost Champions League finals, two Europa Leagues triumph and one league title later, Koke is two games away from being the skipper who is handed the Liga trophy.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai World Cup Carnival card:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 | 2,410 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
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
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Results
2.15pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner: Hello, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihi (trainer).
2.45pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner: Right Flank, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,000m
Winner: Leading Spirit, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
3.45pm: Jebel Ali Mile Group 3 Dh575,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,400m
Winner: Ode To Autumn, Patrick Cosgrave, Satish Seemar.
4.45pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh125,000 1,200m
Winner: Last Surprise, James Doyle, Simon Crisford.
5.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,200m
Winner: Daltrey, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihi.
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
MORE ON TURKEY'S SYRIA OFFENCE
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
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