Atletico Madrid have the upper hand heading into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona after holding on for a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Diego Ribas, who had come on as a first-half substitute for the injured Diego Costa, fired the visitors in front with a wonder strike from long range 11 minutes into the second half.
However, Barca responded like a side looking to make their seventh consecutive Champions League semi-final and were level when Neymar swept home Andres Iniesta’s pass 19 minutes from time.
A fourth draw in as many games between the sides this season leaves the tie delicately poised for the return at the Vicente Calderon next Wednesday, April 9.
“It is what we expected beforehand, Atletico play with great intensity in every game,” Barca midfielder Xavi Hernandez told TVE.
“Their goal was a shame for us, it was a great goal. I think we played very well and perhaps had more chances, but they played well too.
“It was difficult for us to create many opportunities. We need to try and score there, but it is not a good result for us.”
However, Atletico midfielder Tiago insisted that Barca remain favourites to progress.
“We have worked very hard, Barca had a lot of the ball. They have quality and make you work, but we are comfortable with working hard. We played well and the result is great.
“Barca are still the favourites, but we have a game at home and we will have our chances. We can dream and we will give everything at the Calderon.”
Atletico’s David Villa had the best chance of the first half after just five minutes as the ball fell to him inside the area after an errant clearance from Jose Manuel Pinto, but the former Barca striker’s effort flew just past the post.
A minute later Lionel Messi had his first opening as he was upended by Gabi on the edge of the area, but the Argentine dumped the resulting free-kick into the wall.
Barca then suffered an injury blow as Gerard Pique was forced off after failing to recover from an awkward fall as he challenged for an aerial ball with Costa.
Neymar had Barca’s first effort on goal on 24 minutes as Thibaut Courtois easily gathered the Brazilian’s weak headed effort.
The Atletico defence had to be at their best moments later, though, as brilliant play from Messi saw the Argentine fed Iniesta inside the area and his shot was blocked by Diego Godin.
It was the visitors who were then disrupted by injury to a key player as Costa hobbled off with a pulled hamstring that will almost certainly also rule him out of the return leg next week.
However, even without their top scorer, Atletico nearly went in ahead at the break as Villa this time found the target with a low drive that was beaten away by Pinto low to his left.
The pace of the game rose at the beginning of the second period and despite Barca’s early dominance of possession, it was Atletico who took the lead in spectacular fashion as Diego thundered a shot high into Pinto’s top left-hand corner from fully 30 yards.
Barca laid seige to the Atletico goal in a bid to get back on level terms as Courtois turned Sergio Busquets’ well-struck volley behind before Messi was unable to direct Dani Alves’ volleyed cross goalwards.
Neymar did bring the hosts level on 71 minutes as his perfectly timed run was matched by Iniesta’s through ball and the Brazilian slotted the ball past Courtois first time.
With the volume of the Camp Nou raised by the equaliser, Barca had all the momentum in the final stages and Courtois had to make a fine low save to his left to meet a curling effort from Iniesta and then turn a Messi free-kick behind.
However, Barca couldn’t find a winner and will travel to Madrid needing to score at least once to reach the last four once more.
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Sunday's games
Liverpool v West Ham United, 4.30pm (UAE)
Southampton v Burnley, 4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester City, 7pm
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
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
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