MILAN // Ten-man AC Milan handed Roma their first home draw of the season to leave Rudi Garcia’s title challengers three points adrift of leaders Juventus on Saturday.
Roma had recently capitalised on two consecutive draws by defending champions Juve to reduce their deficit to a point.
But in their final game of the year, the Giallorossi -- denied a first-half penalty after a clear handball by Nigel De Jong -- ultimately failed to break down a well-drilled Milan side in a thrilling Stadio Olimpico goalless stalemate.
Roma remain second, three points adrift of Juve after their 3-1 win at Cagliari on Thursday, with Napoli in third a further nine points adrift. Milan remain seventh but are only two points off Napoli in the final Champions League qualifying spot.
Garcia admitted his side “lacked a bit of creativity” but hinted Roma, in contention for the league, Italian Cup and Europa League, were feeling the effects of those demands.
“All the clubs welcome this break: footballers aren’t machines, they can’t go ten months non-stop without resting,” said Garcia.
“I hope the guys come back from the holidays utterly determined and with the same hunger we’ve shown up till now.”
Milan’s 2-0 home win over Napoli last week put much-needed wind into their sails and Filippo Inzaghi was so delighted he said Milan should be aiming higher than just qualification for the Champions League.
“We are Milan, we shouldn’t be fighting to finish third. We should be gunning for the title,” said the Milan handler.
Milan underlined their intentions from the outset of a balanced first half at the Stadio Olimpico and, but for Pablo Armero’s sending-off in the 70th minute for a handling offence, Milan might have snatched a win.
Inzaghi added: “I’m really happy. Even when we were down to ten men we were controlling play to the extent I thought we would win.”
Seconds after kick-off Keisuke Honda fired a speculative shot from 25 metres to force Morgan De Sanctis into a double save at his near post after Andrea Poli rushed in to fire the rebound from a tight angle.
Garcia had left on-form Serbian Adem Ljajic on the bench in place of Alessandro Florenzi, who was given a rare start up front alongside Francesco Totti and Gervinho, who hobbled off in the final minutes after suffering a knock.
But the normally potent Roma front line was conspicuous by its absence. After half-chances by Florenzi and Totti went amiss, Gervinho provided the first real threat.
The Ivorian slalomed his way into the Milan area and skipped around Phillipe Mexes to fire a low shot which Lopez did well to block.
Roma were denied what looked like a stonewall penalty soon after when a corner whipped in from the left was deflected by the forearm of Nigel De Jong.
Despite protests, Roma’s pleas fell on deaf ears but Garcia later hit out: “I’ve said this before but if the goal-line officials don’t take responsibility for things there’s no point having them.”
Milan started in more positive fashion after the restart but Giacomo Bonaventura’s low drive was blocked by De Sanctis.
Roma were creating little, but the game changed in their favour in the space of three second-half minutes.
Florenzi made way for Adem Ljajic, Roma’s top scorer with six goals this season, and shortly after Milan were reduced to 10 men when Armero earned a second yellow card for a handball incident while tackling Maicon.
Inzaghi replaced Honda with Brazilian defender Alex, while De Rossi came off in place of Mattia Destro as Garcia boosted Roma’s attack. The hosts, however, ultimately failed to capitalise.
Destro had claims for a penalty waved away after being wrestled to the ground by Mexes, who minutes later had a violent reaction to the striker after he arrived late to meet a Gervinho through ball and almost striking Lopez’s head.
With the clock ticking down, Gervinho gave the hosts some late hope with a mazy run into the Milan area but after a one-two with Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa the Ivorian’s shot was blocked by an alert Lopez as he tumbled to the ground under a challenge.
Gervinho set for scans on ankle knock
Ivory Coast striker Gervinho is set to undergo scans to determine the seriousness of a right ankle knock suffered in a scoreless draw at home to Milan on Saturday.
Gervinho hobbled off in the final minutes of the Stadio Olimpico clash and did not make it back on to the pitch as Roma suffered their first home draw of the season to drop to three points behind leaders Juventus.
The 27-year-old striker is expected to be called up by Ivory Coast for the 2015 African Cup of Nations to be held January 17 to February 8.
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Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
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How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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FA CUP FINAL
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
NO OTHER LAND
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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.”
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
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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
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
