Real Madrid wasted a chance to keep the pressure on the top two in the Spanish Primera Liga with a 2-2 draw away to Osasuna that was overshadowed by Sergio Ramos being sent off for the 18th time in his career and record signing Gareth Bale being substituted.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side began confidently on Saturday, having won their last five league games and scoring 24 goals in the process, but they were undone by two first-half headers from Oriol Riera.
Ramos, who was returning from suspension and whose discipline has been questioned, was red carded after 43 minutes for a second bookable offence, but Isco gave Madrid hope with a strike on the stroke of half time.
Bale was taken off 10 minutes into the second half as they searched for an equaliser that eventually came from a Pepe header after Osasuna were also reduced to 10 men with Francisco Silva dismissed.
Bale, Madrid’s world record €100 million (Dh505m) signing, scored a hat-trick in his last league game against Valladolid, but he was unable to make an impact against Osasuna.
The hosts were no pushovers, having also managed to earn a draw against league leaders Barcelona earlier in the season.
“The first 20 minutes were very good, and it is incredible that we went 2-0 down and had 10 men. We responded well, but we suffered a lot,” Ancelotti told a post-match news conference.
“We were showing quality and rhythm and we lost control after the first goal, but we did show character and the right attitude to battle back.”
Madrid zipped the ball around with pace and confidence early on, with Osasuna at full stretch to contain Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
So it was a shock when Osasuna took the lead with Riera left totally unmarked to head in Marc Bertran’s cross.
The goal took the wind out of Madrid’s sails, and they again failed to mark properly when Damia Abella won a header which goalkeeper Diego Lopez beat away, only for Riera to nod in the rebound.
It went from bad to worse as Ramos then received a second yellow card for a foul on Roberto Torres. The first yellow card, shown for dissent after he was harshly adjudged to have fouled Alvaro Cejudo, might have been unlucky, but he could have seen a straight red for the second offence, swinging an arm in the face of Torres.
The dismissal was the 18th of the 27-year-old Spanish defender’s career.
Isco pulled a goal back, finding the corner with a drive from the edge of the area.
Bale was replaced by Angel Di Maria after the restart and it was Osasuna who looked more like scoring again.
The match changed, however, when Silva was also dismissed following a foul on Ronaldo and Isco’s free kick was headed in by Pepe. “The team demonstrated it has a good attitude, but a draw is like a loss for us,” the Madrid defender Marcelo said. “We knew that the result wasn’t good enough, but we reacted too late.”
Not only did Madrid’s five-game winning streak come to an end, Ronaldo was unable to extend his eight-game scoring run for club and country.
Elsewhere in Spain, Granada moved into the top half of the league table with their 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, who finished the error-plagued match with 10 men after Nacho Martinez was dismissed. Fran Rico opened the scoring after 35 minutes, with Riki rounding out the scoring in the 89th.
In one of Saturday’s late kick offs, Barcelona weathered a scare from Villarreal to win 2-1 at Camp Nou. Neymar gave Barca the lead on the half-hour mark and restored that advantage in the 68th minute after Mateo Musacchio had levelled for the visitors.
Barcelona lead the league with 43 points, three clear of Atletico Madrid, who host Valencia on Sunday night, while Real Madrid sit five points off the top. Villarreal remain fifth on 28 points
sports@thenational.ae
Fixtures
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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
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
STAR%20WARS%20JEDI%3A%20SURVIVOR
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Respawn%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electronic%20Arts%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsoles%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PC%2C%20Playstation%205%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20X%20and%20S%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Specs
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Range: 400km
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Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
