At times in the last five and half years, Real Madrid have led a charmed life in their favourite tournament.
No team ever dominates any competition over a long period without some luck, and at key moments in their journey to four European Cup triumphs since 2014, Madrid have had luck and exploited it.
Now they feel they may really need it again, even as early as Tuesday night, where they meet Ajax at the Bernabeu with a 2-1 advantage from the home leg but with nothing resembling form or authority to fortify them.
Madrid have lost their last three home games, with the latest two defeats, both to Barcelona, effectively depriving them of any prospect of a domestic trophy this season, and leaving them feeling unusually barren.
Madrid may be in the last 16 of the Uefa Champions League, as ever, but they are not among the top 16 most potent teams from across the strongest leagues in Europe.
The first season of their life after Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus last summer after nine years as Real's finisher-in-chief, has turned out to be as great a challenge as many wise forecasters predicted.
The wisest of all Zinedine Zidane, who stepped down as manager almost immediately after overseeing his third Champions League final success.
Perhaps Zidane foresaw that Madrid would become barely half as effective in front of goal without Ronaldo. The stats are startling. In La Liga, Madrid with Ronaldo tended to have reached on average 70 goals for the campaign at this stage. They currently have 43.
"We need to be more sure of ourselves in front of goal," said Santi Solari, the interim coach after Saturday's 1-0 loss in the league to Barcelona.
He had said almost exactly the same three days earlier, after Barcelona put Madrid out of the Copa del Rey.
There is no shortage of possession in Madrid's play, nor of technical excellence, with Vinicius Junior having added some youthful zest on the left flank to Karim Benzema's intelligence and industry around the penalty box, and Luka Modric's careful use of the ball in midfield. What they lack is a predator.
For all that Modric, who deposed Ronaldo as holder of the Ballon d'Or last year, remains the heart of a Madrid that will be remembered long into their future for their serial European Cups, he is not the man to compensate for Ronaldo’s absence.
When Modric planted a header over then Barcelona bar, having had a snapshot volley saved moments earlier, a collective sigh wheezed around the Bernabeu, the realisation that the admired Modric was taking responsibilities that needed taking but that goalscoring has never been a principle part of his game.
In this brittle Madrid, working with their third different head coach in nine months, there is a leadership gap, too.
Modric leads by example, all endeavour and vision, but he is not an ostentatious fist-pumper. Karim Benzema, a decade a Madrid player, is not that type either.
Marcelo, meanwhile, a totemic figure and perhaps the world's most dynamic and influential attacking left-back for much of the last five year, has a waning impact, no longer deemed certain of his place in the starting XI.
As for the captain, Sergio Ramos is certainly the fist-pumping, battle-cry sort, often to an exaggerated degree, but as Madrid approach a testing phase in the defence of the European title, they will have to do without him.
The skipper is suspended on Tuesday and for the first leg of a quarter-final, should Madrid reach it, his punishment - subject to appeal - for having deliberately, in Uefa's view, looked for a yellow card so he could serve a ban for accumulated bookings now and not later in the tournament.
Ramos may have felt he was doing the responsible thing by his team in acting like that. He was probably ill-advised to be so blatant about deliberately looking for a yellow card.
He has a cynical streak - not the least of Madrid's pieces of luck in their capturing so many European titles was that Ramos escaped punishment in last season's final when his manhandling of Mohamed Salah left Liverpool without their best goalscorer, his shoulder injured by Ramos, for most of the game.
Madrid had some luck in their first leg against a vibrant Ajax, too, VAR ruling a marginal decision on an Ajax offside goal in Madrid's favour.
The champions may need more of that luck this evening.
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
MATCH INFO
Asian Champions League, last 16, first leg:
Al Ain 2 Al Duhail 4
Second leg:
Tuesday, Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha. Kick off 7.30pm
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
More coverage from the Future Forum
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
