Gerard Pique offered no help with interpretation. Asked after Barcelona's 4-1 victory at Villarreal what exactly he had meant with his unusual hand gesture just as a Lionel Messi 'goal' was being ruled out by VAR, he said he could not remember.
The gesture, delivered with a smile, had Pique mimicking someone tapping out a message furiously on a keyboard.
Imaginary instructions zipping their way to the video assistant referee? It looked like it. The idea that VAR is somehow prejudicing Barcelona’s challenge for the Spanish title has become an ongoing theme.
If Pique was not ready to spell out in front of the post-match microphones what he may or may not have intended with his tinkling fingers, his president and his head coach would be more explicit.
Quique Setien, the Barcelona manager, called VAR a “tool that is not being used in a consistent way.” Josep Maria Bartomeu, the beleaguered Barca president, seldom addresses the media after matches, but at Villarreal he did, with VAR on his agenda. “VAR is not very equitable, it is not being managed well and it is not up to the task.”
He had not finished there. “VAR always seems to favour one way.”
By which Bartomeu meant the way of Real Madrid, four points ahead of Barcelona with four matches to play.
The last six Real points have been gained via two penalties and the last three of them confirmed amid much fuming from a narrowly defeated Athletic Bilbao, whose players had been angered that VAR stayed quiet when Sergio Ramos appeared to have impeded Raul Garcia in the Madrid penalty area.
VAR is not very equitable, it is not being managed well and it is not up to the task
The catalogue of Barcelona complaints about interpretable refereeing decisions runs to longer than that.
Once Barcelona started dropping points – they led La Liga when matches resumed last month, but in the last 10 days conceded leads against Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid before showing their better face at Villarreal – Pique was quickly on the attack about refereeing.
“It’s hard to see Madrid dropping points,” he muttered darkly, “when you look how recent matches have been going.”
The gap at the top could narrow, at least until Madrid play Alaves on Friday, to a single point should Barcelona triumph at Camp Nou on Wednesday in what may be the last city derby for some time.
Espanyol, bottom of the Primera Division, are in desperate trouble, 11 points from safety. They must win all their remaining fixtures to even have a chance of survival.
They can expect no civic sympathy from their neighbours, nor from Pique the provocateur, a footballer whose appetite for nourishing rivalries extends beyond the most famous one, Barcelona versus Madrid.
A little over two years ago, Espanyol made an official complaint to the Spanish Federation about Pique. “Disrespectful,” they called his remarks ahead of a fiery Copa del Rey derby, “and liable to incite violence and xenophobia.”
Pique had taken to calling the local rivals ‘Espanyol of Cornella’, rather than ‘Espanyol of Barcelona’. His tone was sneery. Cornella is the working-class suburb where Espanyol’s new stadium, opened in 2009, is sited; they remain Espanyol of Barcelona in name.
What Espanyol’s smart, modern arena was not built for was second division football, and however dominant Barca are as an institution, Catalonia’s sporting landscape would be altered for the worse by Espanyol’s economically debilitating relegation.
They have been part of the top division for 26 years, and for a period enjoyed a handsome view from the physical summit of a city invigorated by its hosting of the 1992 Olympic Games. The Olympic stadium, at Montjuic, was Espanyol’s leased home until they constructed their own in Cornella.
In the year Barcelona won their first European Cup of this century, in 2006, Espanyol won the Spanish Cup and went on, 12 months later, to reach the Uefa Cup final. Those were heady days for football in the region.
These are anything but heady days. Barcelona look on course to relinquish a Liga title they held through the last two summers. Espanyol appear doomed to lose a top-flight status they have clung on to, sometimes by the skin of the teeth, since 1994. Last season, Catalonia lost another top-flight member, Girona, to relegation.
The small blessing for Espanyol is that, because of the public health emergency, there will be no Barca fans in Camp Nou singing ‘A Segunda!’’ – ‘Going Down!’ – as they habitually do during derbies.
The chant has not been an accurate forecast for more than quarter of a century. On Wednesday night, they may very well go down in silence – as long as the provocative Pique holds his tongue.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
The specs: 2018 Renault Megane
Price, base / as tested Dh52,900 / Dh59,200
Engine 1.6L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission Continuously variable transmission
Power 115hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 156Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.6L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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
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Gulf Men's League final
Dubai Hurricanes 24-12 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
Brief scores:
Kashima Antlers 0
River Plate 4
Zuculini 24', Martinez 73', 90 2', Borre 89' (pen)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
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Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
- This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030
- At least one third of common cancers are preventable
- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
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.
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SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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