Anything Lionel Messi can do, Cristiano Ronaldo can match.
The brilliant Barcelona striker hit a hat-trick in his side's 8-0 demolition of Almeria on Saturday night - the Catalans' biggest away win since 1959.
Two hours later, Ronaldo got a hat-trick as Real Madrid blitzed the Basques of Athletic Bilbao 5-1.
Messi has scored 13 goals so far this season - one behind Ronaldo in the race for the Pichichi.
Great names like David Villa and Diego Forlan are trailing far behind the best two players in the world who boast phenomenal strike rates of more than a goal a game.
Messi has scored 47 league goals in 45 games since the start of the 2009/10 season - that is more than the entire Deportivo La Coruna team. The Argentine also broke his own record of scoring in six consecutive games.
Messi and Ronaldo meet on Monday night at Camp Nou and despite Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho saying little or nothing, everyone else is talking about the first el clasico of the season in Spain.
Guardiola does not want to get into a media spat with Mourinho. He led his side to two derby victories last season - the difference between winning the league and finishing second to their great rivals.
Both he and his players believe they can beat Real again because they are a superior and better established team.
I have spoken to several in private and they have that self-assured belief. In public? Nothing.
Guardiola has banned his players from doing interviews before the Real game, even those renowned for being careful with their words who had already agreed to meet journalists.
Appointments were cancelled as the usually media friendly club have battened down the hatches.
The Barca coach fears that any quotes given will be twisted by a sensationalist media.
He does not want to make statements which he feels will feed the mind-games and tactics of Mourinho, who thrives on public conflict and has taken on all-comers in his first season as a coach in Spain. And he is probably right.
So it is left for the media to hammer home any prejudices and slights according to their affinities. Mourinho's Real are the greatest thing on earth according to the Madrid press, while they are the devil incarnate in Catalan eyes.
Publicly, Barca may say that they are focussing on tomorrow's Champions League game against Panathinaikos in Athens, but they are thinking about the big one. Gerard Pique was not risked in Almeria because a yellow card would have meant him missing the Real game.
Real, who only need a point from tonight's Champions League game against Ajax to finish top of their group, may rest key players. They need to avoid injuries to key players because they know the clasico is a game they cannot afford to lose.
The league leaders remain confident and Ricardo Carvalho, one of the few players who has spoken about the game, said: "I know we can beat Barcelona."
Ahead of his first clasico, Mourinho played down the game and told journalists about how much he was enjoying life in Madrid.
"I am completely happy at Real Madrid because we are building a good team, earning good results, playing well and coming up with something important: a great empathy with our fans," he said.
"The Bernabeu gets packed, the fans fervently support us and the players feel their passion. Those things are sometimes more important than results themselves."
And despite saying that, "this clasico will not be decisive because it's one of 38 games," he is kidding nobody.
The result is all that matters because if Real lose, the chances of the "Special One" wrestling the title away from Barcelona - the very job he was brought to do - will decrease dramatically.
sports@thenational.ae
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
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.
Specs
Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo V6
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 405hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 562Nm at 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.2L/100km
Price: From Dh292,845 (Reserve); from Dh320,145 (Presidential)
On sale: Now
UAE squad v Australia
Rohan Mustafa (C), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Fahad Nawaz, Amjed Gul, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Muhammad Naveed, Amir Hayat, Ghulam Shabir (WK), Qadeer Ahmed, Tahir Latif, Zahoor Khan
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
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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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
