Jose Mourinho is not used to being questioned by players. He usually sets the tone of the media agenda with a string of bombastic quotes, front foot firmly forward as he prepares to lead his teams into battle.
Players like his style and the success that comes with it, but not every one of his former charges is completely enamoured.
Arjen Robben, the Bayern Munich winger who played under the Portuguese coach for three seasons at Chelsea, knew he would get under Mourinho's skin when he said the Inter Milan coach had a win-at-all-costs philosophy to football.
He said that Mourinho would put out a team to win at the expense of playing attractive football.
This, he said, was in stark contrast to Louis van Gaal, his coach at Bayern, who wanted to be successful by playing "nice" football.
Robben said this was important to players as they needed to enjoy the way they were told to play and entertainment was an important part of the game.
Robben was a key factor in Chelsea's title successes of 2005 and 2006. And while he compliments his former manager for his ability to work with big stars and claims that he "had the respect of every single player", the Dutchman takes issue with Mourinho's altered strategy at Stamford Bridge.
He said Mourinho started to play a diamond formation without wingers, so he decided to leave. He moved to Real Madrid in 2007 after starting just 21 of Chelsea's league games the previous season.
The 26-year-old arrived in Spain at the same time as two other hugely gifted Dutchmen, Wesley Sneijder and Royston Drenthe. Ruud van Nistelrooy, another Holland international, was already at the club, and Rafael van der Vaart and Jan- Klaas Huntelaar would follow.
Robben and Sneijder will be on opposing sides tonight, but they took to life in Madrid differently.
Robben remained the consummate professional, while Sneijder saw a little too much of Madrid's nightlife for the club's liking.
He was disciplined over his conduct and his marriage collapsed (he will wed again this summer), but Sneijder appears to have reformed under Mourinho's tutelage at Inter.
Robben was Real's best player in 2008/09. He was the most consistent performer under Juande Ramos and, thanks to his key goals and quality performances as their first choice midfielder, Real stayed in contention with Barcelona for much of the season.
Despite signing Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben stood out in their 2009/10 preseason.
Real fans liked him, but the expensive new signings were purchased to play. Robben's position became untenable - despite his willingness to fight for his place.
So desperate were the Spaniards to get Robben off the payroll, they only recouped ?25 million (Dh115m) of the ?35m they had paid Chelsea two years earlier.
"I did not want to go," a disgruntled Robben told reporters soon after joining Bayern Munich, "but the club wanted me to leave."
The move has been a success, with Robben finishing the season as Bayern's top scorer.
Robben's volley at Old Trafford sent Munich into the semi-finals and he is on top form ahead of the World Cup with Holland.
Tonight will be the biggest game of his career so far, the perfect stage to show his former manager and fans at his former club what they have lost.
For Mourinho and Real it might not be comfortable viewing.
sports@thenational.ae
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
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Leaderboard
64 - Gavin Green (MAL), Graeme McDowell (NIR)
65 - Henrik Stenson (SWE), Sebastian Soderberg (SWE), Adri Arnaus (ESP), Victor Perez (FRA), Jhonattan Vegas (VEN)
66 - Phil Mickelson (USA), Tom Lewis (ENG), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Ross Fisher (ENG), Aaron Rai (ENG), Ryan Fox (NZL)
67 - Dustin Johnson (USA), Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez (ESP), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Francesco Laporta (ITA), Joost Luiten (NED), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
68 - Alexander Bjork (SWE), Matthieu Pavon (FRA), Adrian Meronk (POL), David Howell (ENG), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Sean Crocker (USA), Scott Hend (AUS), Justin Harding (RSA), Jazz Janewattananond (THA), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Renato Paratore (ITA)
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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%20SWIMMERS
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Results:
Men’s wheelchair 200m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 27.14; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 27.81; 3. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 27.81.
Apple%20Mac%20through%20the%20years
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
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.
