Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists that Manchester City should still be considered Premier League title favourites despite seeing his side top the table for the first time since September.
Chelsea have signalled their title intentions in a potentially season-defining week, winning 1-0 at City before prevailing 3-0 at home to Newcastle United on Saturday.
With Arsenal crashing 5-1 at Liverpool and City dropping points in a goalless draw at Norwich City, Chelsea now find themselves on top of the standings with 13 matches of the season remaining.
However, Mourinho remains adamant that Chelsea will not win the league, and having compared his side to the “little horse” in the title race after the win at City, he employed a new metaphor.
“I want to stop with that story of the horses, but I don’t change my idea,” he said.
“Manchester City is a Jaguar. You cannot put an L-plate (learners’ plate) behind a Jaguar. We are what we are and we know where we want to go and this season we have only one objective, which is to finish top four.”
He added: “I say as I feel it. I don’t feel the change. We are playing well and have been for a long time.
“People individually are in a good moment and we are getting results. We are top of the league and that’s something we can’t hide.
“Big results are always surprising, but it happens. You did not expect such a big result at Anfield. Man City’s attacking power is fantastic, so when you get this kind of result it is a bit surprising.”
Chelsea continue on their way with Belgian winger Eden Hazard taking his game to a new level.
He struck two first-half goals against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge and then completed his first treble in the London club’s colours from the penalty spot in the second half.
“I think Hazard’s performance has not been different to his other performances,” said Mourinho, who had described the 23-year-old as the world’s best young player after his display at City.
“The only difference is that he scored. There were similar performances at Hull, at Manchester City and against Manchester United, Liverpool and Southampton.
“Now he scored a hat-trick, but he is playing well, with consistency and ambition. He is impressive.”
Mourinho enjoyed a trophy-laden spell in his first stint at Stamford Bridge, but he believes that his current side remain a work in progress, even if results suggest otherwise.
“I don’t like to compare teams from different generations,” he said.
“My (first) team here lasted almost a decade and won lots of trophies for the club and have history here. These people here are just starting and I don’t want to compare.
“Potentially this team is good and hopefully we will have a good decade as only John Terry and Frank Lampard and a couple of players are over 30.”
Newcastle’s season is in danger of falling away, but manager Alan Pardew believes the return of key players could bring about a change of fortunes in the run-in.
“Most of the recent results have been impacted by our injuries sustained,” he said. “We have Papiss Cisse out, Loic Remy, Cheick Tiote, Fabricio Coloccini out. We need those big players back, especially at this level.
“Tottenham is next up and a game I’d like to think we can get through and get a strong result. After that, a lot of our big players will come back to us.
“For the next 13 games I think we will be strong. Then in the summer we have work to do.”
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The%20specs
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
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Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
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
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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 banned).
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.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
