Real Madrid make the short trip across the Spanish capital to face rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday seeking revenge for their 4-0 humiliation at the Vicente Calderon in the league last season.
Their biggest defeat in a Madrid derby in 27 years precipitated a Real collapse as they surrendered a commanding lead in the La Liga title race that allowed eternal rivals Barcelona to claim a historic treble of league, Copa del Rey and Champions League.
Read more: Andy Mitten on Luis Enrique's justifiable frustration with the Camp Nou crowd
Real defender Alvaro Arbeloa sparked tensions ahead of the biggest La Liga game of the season to date by claiming the derby remains the biggest game of the season for Atletico.
“We know that the game on Sunday is always the game of the year for Atletico and we will have to play well,” the former Liverpool man warned after Real saw off Malmo 2-0 in the Champions League in midweek.
Cristiano Ronaldo took his career tally to 501 goals with a double in Sweden and moved level with Raul as Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer in the process with 323.
And the Portuguese would love the vindication of breaking the record at the Calderon after the criticism he received for hosting his 30th birthday party just hours after the 4-0 defeat back in February.
Meanwhile, Atletico’s early-season optimism has been diminished by back-to-back defeats against Villarreal and Benfica in the past week.
Diego Simeone’s men were beaten at home in the Champions League for the first time since 2009 by the Portuguese champions on Wednesday.
“In these moments it is normal that the team isn’t happy due to the defeat,” said Simeone.
“We will return to training and focus on what is clearly an important game for everyone. I don’t think there will be much motivation needed to play on Sunday.”
Atletico also have reason to seek revenge as they were eliminated from the Champions League for the second consecutive season by Madrid in their last meeting back in April.
However, that defeat ended a seven-game unbeaten run against Real.
“Sunday will be a special game for everyone. Lately we have played very well against them, above all here at home and we hope it continues like this,” added Atletico captain Gabi.
Real manager Rafa Benitez may be able to recall the injured trio of Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos, who have all missed the last four games.
Spanish international Koke remains Atletico’s only injury doubt, with Simeone tasked with deciding between the misfiring Jackson Martinez or Fernando Torres to partner Antoine Griezmann up front.
Barcelona could move four points clear of Real on Saturday when the injury-ravaged European champions travel to Sevilla.
The blow of losing Lionel Messi for two months was intensified as Andres Iniesta hobbled off during Barca’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in midweek and is also set for a month on the sidelines.
“It is not just 11 or 12 players that win competitions, there are reserves behind and now some of those that wouldn’t have had so many minutes will get their chance,” said Argentine defender Javier Mascherano.
“Those of us that are fit need to keep going and know that whilst we win games there is less time left until those important players return.”
Elsewhere, Celta Vigo have the opportunity to move top for 24 hours on Friday when they host Getafe.
Leaders Villarreal are favourites to stretch their winning streak to six league games when they visit Levante on Sunday.
Former Manchester United coach David Moyes’s position as Real Sociedad manager will come under more scrutiny should the Basque club fail to secure just their second win of the campaign at a Malaga side that have yet to score a goal this season.
And Valencia will be aiming to continue their upturn in form with a third consecutive win when they visit Athletic Bilbao.
Fixtures (UAE times)
Friday
Celta Vigo v Getafe (10.30pm)
Saturday
Sevilla v Barcelona (6pm), Granada v Deportivo la Coruna (8.15pm), Espanyol v Sporting Gijon (10.30pm), Las Palmas v Eibar (Midnight), Malaga v Real Sociedad (12.05am Sunday)
Sunday
Rayo Vallecano v Real Betis (2pm), Athletic Bilbao v Valencia (6pm), Levante v Villarreal (8.15pm), Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid (10.30pm)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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
