It is a Cup final scenario that will never be repeated. It is a once-in-a-century collision of fierce local rivals, yet, for one of them, showpiece finals seem to happen every few weeks.
Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad would be forgiven for feeling disorientated at how an upended calendar has affected on their big day. The two biggest clubs from Spain’s Basque Country contest a Copa del Rey final on Saturday in Seville, about as far away from their hometowns as it is possible to go and still be in Spain.
When they reached the final, Athletic defeated Barcelona and La Real knocked-out Real Madrid in the quarter-finals along the way, they envisaged a long exuberant, cross-country road trip for their supporters.
But that was back in March last year. As it turned out, the semi-finals of the 2020 Copa del Rey were some of the very last games to be played in front of full stadiums, before Covid-sensitive restrictions came in.
Athletic and La Real agreed to delay their final beyond the resumption of football in June, and even beyond the start of the 2020-21 season, in the hope that public health conditions would improve enough that they could have fans present for the most resonant derby in a lifetime.
But the clubs and the Spanish authorities could only wait so long. Saturday is now the designated date for a match that was supposed to take place 50 weekends ago. Athletic especially feel the urgency of one season shunting into another. They have also reached the final of the 2021 Copa del Rey, where they confront Barcelona on April 17th.
Indeed, they are entitled to regard themselves as Spain's Cup kings. In January they won the Spanish Super Cup, a four-team mini-tournament, taken very seriously by those involved. Athletic beat Real Madrid in their semi and Barca in the final.
“In shorter competitions, we’re a powerful team,” says Marcelino Garcia Toral, the Athletic manager, adding “we want that to be the case in La Liga as well. We haven’t been as consistent as we wanted.”
In fact, Marcelino owes his chance to collect all this sudden silverware to Athletic’s irregular form this season. His predecessor, Gaizka Garitano, was sacked just before the Super Cup tournament, with the club ninth in the table. They are still ninth, five places beneath Sociedad.
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Gallery: Sociedad by Real Madrid in Copa del Rey quarter-finals
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Should they win on Saturday, Garitano will be acknowledged, as will the Athletic icon Aritz Aduriz, who played the penultimate match of his 405 for the club in last season’s Cup semi-final, before retiring, aged 39. But this being Athletic, there are few major changes from last season’s squad: transfer policy at the club is, uniquely, built around a guiding principle that anybody wearing Athletic’s jersey must be connected to the Basque region, either by birth or by family connections.
It means a highly developed local scouting and development system, which sometimes irritates local rivals, who know that Athletic are bound to have an acquisitive eye on any home-grown talents they might be cultivating.
When Inigo Martinez, the Spain international defender, controversially joined Athletic from Sociedad three years ago, the club he had quit offered fans who had Martinez replica jerseys a free replacement, with any other La Real player’s name on it.
Athletic would point out that when La Real lose a key player, they can simply go and find replacements from anywhere in the world, because they do not have Athletic’s dogmatic adherence to only fielding locals.
La Real, from San Sebastian, like to have a strong core of Basque players, but were grateful to a Swede, Alexander Isak, and a Dane, the on-loan Martin Odegaard, for galvanising their 2019-20 Cup run. Isak is still there, and still a potent goalscorer. Odegaard, owned by Real Madrid, is now on loan at Arsenal.
His replacement is able enough, though. He is David Silva, who joined la Real last summer after a dazzling decade at Manchester City and has been hugely influential: In the 17 Liga games he has played, he has been on the losing side just twice; when Silva has been absent, for fitness reasons, La Real have won just one of eleven.
A chance to add another trophy to his ample collection is a bonus for Silva, who has been recuperating from injury but expects to be ready for Saturday.
“I’m excited about it,” he said, “and I can see the excitement around the city and among my teammates. For some of the younger players, it’s a first opportunity [to win a trophy]. I would just say to them – enjoy it and give your best.”
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Gallery: Bilbao beat Barca in Spanish Super Cup
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Second ODI
England 322-7 (50 ovs)
India 236 (50 ovs)
England win by 86 runs
Next match: Tuesday, July 17, Headingley
UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
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Palestine and Israel - live updates
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Sri Lanka squad for tri-nation series
Angelo Mathews (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Shehan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanidu Hasaranga
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
