"Of course it is not a friendly," Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday, shortly after he had confirmed that eight of his premier players will not feature in the Community Shield.
It rather raised the question of what the match is: a clash of the heavyweights, the first real indicator of what will happen this season, or an exhibition match with no real relevance?
The fixture’s declining status, veering nearer pre-season warm-up than competitive game, was summed up when Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, sent off against City in 2012, was not suspended.
City won that Community Shield. Roberto Mancini classed it as a trophy for his collection; unfortunately for the Italian, few others did.
If their task for Sunday is to emulate Mancini’s men, the job for the season is to avoid making the same mistakes. Superficially, there are similarities in their summer business.
In 2012, they signed a backup goalkeeper, Richard Wright. Now Willy Caballero has arrived to start the season as Joe Hart’s deputy. Two years ago, Maicon was the right-back recruited. Now Bacary Sagna is. Mancini ended up bringing in one English midfielder, Jack Rodwell, and one from a Portuguese club, Javi Garcia.
Pellegrini has loaned Frank Lampard and purchased Fernando. Two years ago, a young central defender, Matija Nastasic, joined. Now Eliaquim Mangala should.
The difference is that Mancini spent the season lamenting the ones that got away, forever complaining that his major targets such as Robin van Persie, Daniele de Rossi and Eden Hazard all eluded City.
Pellegrini is securing players City have wanted for months, in Mangala and Fernando, and whereas their August spending in 2012 consisted of a late dash for players who were not their first choices, the current spending has been planned with greater care. These are the men they wanted.
Yet, no matter how carefully laid plans are, this is scarcely the time to assess them.
The proximity of the World Cup means neither side will be at full strength. Arsenal’s three winners – Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski – have not even returned to training yet.
City’s three runners-up – Sergio Aguero, Martin Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta – have, but only began their preparations on Monday.
None will feature. Neither will Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho, Sagna, Lampard and the injured Alvaro Negredo.
At least that should save Arsenal a sight of a former favourite. Sagna, who was part of the France squad, won a trophy in his last game as a Gunner, which was the FA Cup final against Hull City in May.
He could secure silverware again in his first as a City player. Indeed, the shift in the balance of power between these clubs has been accompanied by the traffic of players north. Sagna is the fifth to swap the Emirates Stadium for the Etihad in as many years.
Go back a decade and Arsenal were in the middle of a golden run against City when they won 10 of their 11 meetings, often emphatically. Now they have only won one of the past 11.
The role reversal was illustrated when they ventured to Manchester in December to face fourth-placed City. They ended the season having exchanged positions.
They left defeated 6-3, the first of three humiliating away losses at the top three when they conceded 17 goals.
A first meeting with title rivals may be an early chance to examine if Arsenal have acquired the required steel to sustain a challenge.
Over 35 games, theirs was virtually the form of champions. In the other three, it was abject.
An Arsenal win might indicate that they have acquired extra mettle just as, after the seasons of sales, they are now spenders. Alexis Sanchez is this summer’s marquee buy.
“In the last two years, we bought Ozil and Sanchez,” Wenger said on Thursday. “Five years ago, we would have lost Ozil and Sanchez.”
So there have been statements of intent in the transfer market. Those on the pitch, however, may have to wait until the serious stuff starts.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
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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
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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RESULTS
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Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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
Racecard
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
