Bayern Munich’s Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara is expected to miss the rest of the season after a scan revealed he has partially torn the medial ligament in his right knee.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder must wear a cast for the next 14 days and is expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks after limping off in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at home against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
He has been ruled out of Tuesday's Uefa Champions League quarter-final first leg at Manchester United, as well as the return leg in Munich on April 9 and the semi-finals at the end of April, should Bayern progress in their bid to retain the title.
“That is bad news. We will miss him very much,” said Pep Guardiola, the Bayern coach.
With the Bundesliga title now secured with a record seven games to spare, the timing of the injury is a blow with Bayern's bid to become the first team to defend the Champions League title.
“That’s extremely bitter news and comes at a catastrophic time for us, just before the important matches,” Bayern’s winger Thomas Muller said.
Thiago is expected to be fit for Spain at the World Cup, which kicks off on June 12 in Brazil, and has been a central component in Bayern’s midfield with the pinpoint accuracy of his passing.
This is the second significant injury this season for Thiago, who joined Bayern from Barcelona in July. He spent two months on the sidelines with an ankle injury he picked up last August.
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Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
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(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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