Inter Milan's defence of their Serie A title will be tested again on Sunday when they take on league leaders Napoli hoping to close the seven-point gap between themselves and top spot.
Simone Inzaghi's side trail both Napoli and city rivals AC Milan, both unbeaten and level at the summit, after a series of big matches marked by missed chances and unfortunate refereeing decisions.
Inter drew their derby with Milan before the international break after missing a penalty and wasting several opportunities to secure a win before a late rally from their rivals almost cost them the match.
Now they host Napoli in front of a sold out San Siro with a chance to claw back some of the ground they lost with their controversial draw with Juventus and collapse at Lazio last month.
Inter enter the clash with a minor injury crisis coming to an end, with Edin Dzeko among those who looked to be out but who should be available.
They will be missing starting centre-back Stefan de Vrij but Alessandro Bastoni appears to have recovered from the muscle injury which kept him out of Italy's goalless draw with Northern Ireland on Monday.
Napoli have an almost full squad available for their trip north, with Kalidou Koulibaly back following his suspension for a red card late last month.
Having Koulibaly back for such a huge match is great news for Luciano Spalletti, who returns to the San Siro for the first time since being replaced by Antonio Conte at Inter in 2019.
Napoli will hope Victor Osimhen can carry his international goalscoring form over to club level. The Nigeria forward had been going through an uncharacteristic fallow spell until joining up with his country for recent World Cup qualifiers, with his last Napoli goal coming a month ago against Legia Warsaw.
However, he netted against both Liberia and Cape Verde over the international break, and although the Super Eagles only scraped into the playoffs for next year's tournament in Qatar, Spalletti will be pleased to see the 22-year-old back in the goals.
Waiting to pounce on either side dropping points are Milan, who travel to Florence on Saturday night to take on a Fiorentina side which have most of their backline unavailable.
Juventus, meanwhile, sit 14 points off the pace ahead of their trip to Lazio, who have lost the league's top scorer Ciro Immobile to a calf injury.
Juve also have injury problems as key players again return from their national sides with niggles. Paulo Dybala, Giorgio Chiellini and Federico Bernadeschi are all doubts as they try to stay in touch with the Champions League spots.
Massimiliano Allegri's side are four points behind fourth-placed Atalanta, who kick the weekend off at Spezia.
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Atalanta v Spezia (6pm), Lazio v Juventus (9pm), Fiorentina v AC Milan (11.45pm)
Sunday
Sassuolo v Cagliari (3.30pm), Bologna v Venezia, Salernitana v Sampdoria (both 6pm), Inter Milan v Napoli (9pm), Genoa v Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Verona v Empoli (9.30pm), Torino v Udinese (11.45pm)
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
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.”
The biog
Hobbies: Salsa dancing “It's in my blood” and listening to music in different languages
Favourite place to travel to: “Thailand, as it's gorgeous, food is delicious, their massages are to die for!”
Favourite food: “I'm a vegetarian, so I can't get enough of salad.”
Favourite film: “I love watching documentaries, and am fascinated by nature, animals, human anatomy. I love watching to learn!”
Best spot in the UAE: “I fell in love with Fujairah and anywhere outside the big cities, where I can get some peace and get a break from the busy lifestyle”
Company profile
Name: Oulo.com
Founder: Kamal Nazha
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2020
Number of employees: 5
Sector: Technology
Funding: $450,000
ICC T20 Rankings
1. India - 270 ranking points
2. England - 265 points
3. Pakistan - 261 points
4. South Africa - 253 points
5. Australia - 251 points
6. New Zealand - 250 points
7. West Indies - 240 points
8. Bangladesh - 233 points
9. Sri Lanka - 230 points
10. Afghanistan - 226 points
