Serie A resumes with a bang on Sunday with a top-of-the-table clash as Juventus host Roma. Two-time defending champions Juventus hold a five-point lead over Roma, with Napoli 10 points back in third.
There are three matches scheduled on Sunday with the other seven games to be played on Monday.
Here are five things to know about the Italian league:
Best v best
Juventus have scored the most goals and Roma have conceded the fewest entering the clash at Juventus Stadium.
Juventus have won nine straight matches and with one more victory can match Roma’s 10-match winning streak to start the season. While Roma are still unbeaten, they have struggled since their excellent start, winning only two of their last seven matches.
But this match marks the first time this season that Roma coach Rudi Garcia has all of his strikers healthy, with captain Francesco Totti ready to start again after recovering from an injured right hamstring.
Before the Christmas holiday break, Mattia Destro scored three goals in as many matches after he, too, returned from several months out with injury.
As for Juventus, prized forward Carlos Tevez returned late from South America after tending to his wife in hospital but now appears ready to play.
Andrea Pirlo, Juve’s influential playmaker, is also back after a month out with a right knee injury, although defender Andrea Barzagli has complained of leg tendon pain in training this week.
Winter title
Juventus need only a draw against Roma to secure the Serie A winter title, a purely ceremonial honour but one that bodes well for the end of the season.
The last 10 clubs to take the winter title have gone on to be crowned champions of Serie A. If Juve do not secure the title this weekend, they will have another chance a week later at Cagliari, while Roma host Genoa in their next match to conclude the first half of the season.
Allegri leaving
Massimiliano Allegri, the AC Milan coach, announced over the break that he will leave the club at the end of this season, and local media are already speculating who will replace him.
Former Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf and Italy coach Cesare Prandelli top most lists of possible replacements.
The 37-year-old Dutchman Seedorf, who enjoyed huge success at Milan as a player, winning two league titles, one Coppa Italia, two Uefa Champions League and Uefa Super Cup medals and a Fifa Club World Cup, plays for Botafogo in Brazil but has indicated he would like to coach when his playing career is over.
Prandelli’s contract with Italy expires after this year’s World Cup.
Allegri’s contract expires in the summer and with Milan struggling in 13th place he has not been offered an extension to his deal.
Milan host regional rivals Atalanta at San Siro on Monday and next month will face Atletico Madrid in the second round of the Uefa Champions League as the only Italian club to advance to the knock-out stage.
New Milan signing Keisuke Honda likely will not play this weekend but could make his debut against Sassuolo a week later.
Who’s the coach?
Lazio have a tough match against Inter Milan on Monday, and it has been unclear all week who is coaching the Roman club.
Vladimir Petkovic recently signed a deal to become coach of Switzerland’s national team after the summer’s World Cup but was hoping to continue with Lazio until the end of the season. But Lazio president Claudio Lotito announced over the break that Edy Reja was returning for a second stint with the club with immediate effect.
While Reja took charge of training sessions, Petkovic – who had not been told he was losing his job – involved his lawyers in a protest to Lotito to stay on, and he is reportedly due to be paid €600,000 (Dh2.99 million) for the second half of the season.
Lazio officially announced on Saturday that Petkovic had been sacked.
Tuscan derby
Fourth-place Fiorentina host promoted Livorno in a Tuscan derby on Sunday but are still without marquee pre-season signing Mario Gomez.
After transferring from Bayern Munich, Gomez only made a few appearances with Fiorentina at the start of the season before going down with a knee injury.
After numerous delays, Fiorentina are hoping the German striker returns on January 12 at Torino.
Fortunately for Fiorentina, fellow forward Giuseppe Rossi has thrived in Gomez’s absence and leads Serie A’s scoring charts with 14 goals in 17 matches. Tevez is next on the list with 11 goals, followed by Inter’s Rodrigo Palacio with 10.
Livorno are next to last in the table, three points above Catania, who host Bologna on Monday.
sports@thenational.ae
WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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KLOPP%20AT%20LIVERPOOL
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
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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
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.”
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
