Inter Milan's Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic celebrates after scoring the winner against Atletico Madrid at San Siro. AFP
Inter Milan's Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic celebrates after scoring the winner against Atletico Madrid at San Siro. AFP
Inter Milan's Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic celebrates after scoring the winner against Atletico Madrid at San Siro. AFP
Inter Milan's Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic celebrates after scoring the winner against Atletico Madrid at San Siro. AFP

Champions League last 16: Inter bank on veteran Arnautovic after winner against Atletico


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Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi put his faith in veteran striker Marko Arnautovic after the misfiring Austria forward redeemed himself with the winner against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

Arnautovic's solitary strike settled the Champions League last-16 first-leg clash at San Siro after he had replaced the injured Marcus Thuram at half-time.

The former West Ham and Stoke player had already missed a string of good chances, including one sitter, before firing home from close range to give the Italians a slender advantage in the tie.

The 34-year-old will be needed again in the coming days and weeks with Thuram likely to miss some games.

"He will be really valuable to us as he has been up to now. He and Alexis Sanchez are doing well for how they work, how they train and how they are with teammates," Inzaghi said.

"He came into the match really well, we were disappointed for the chances he missed but strikers should worry when they're not getting any opportunities.

"I was a striker, I had periods in which I didn't have any chances and I was always more worried than when I did have them and I either had a great goalkeeper in front of me or I missed the target."

Inzaghi said that he hoped to lose Thuram only "for a short period of time" before he has tests on the thigh injury which ended his match.

Visitors Atletico failed to muster a single shot on target against Inter's miserly defence, but boss Diego Simeone remains hopeful of progress.

"We didn't have many chances unlike recent games. We controlled the match for long periods, but in the second half they created more chances," he said.

"I'm optimistic, we lost today but we still have the home leg to play. We know what we'll come up against, and how they play as we've just played them. Hopefully we'll be able to take advantage."

Elsewhere, the last-16 tie in Eindhoven between hosts PSV and Borussia Dortmund ended all square on Tuesday night.

Former PSV player Donyell Malen opened the scoring for the visitors but Luuk de Jong's penalty earned a 1-1 draw for the Eredivisie leaders.

Dortmund enjoyed a strong start to the game but in the end were perhaps lucky to leave with a draw as the hosts grew into the tie.

"I think that we had the second half under control, at least I had that feeling," said PSV midfielder Joey Veerman. "And in the first half we had the bigger chances. So, overall, we had the best possibility of winning."

Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who will miss the second leg through suspension, said their home advantage for the return will ultimately prove decisive.

He said: "We know we still have the second leg to play. Then, there will be 80,000 people on a Champions League night. We are unbeatable there. We did a decent job today - even against Luuk de Jong. But with the ball, we need to show more in the second leg, and we will."

The last 16 continues on Wednesday as Arsenal visit Porto and Napoli entertain Barcelona. Both games kick off at midnight UAE time.

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Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars

The figures behind the event

1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew

2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show

3) 1,000 social distancing stickers

4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue

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Key fixtures from January 5-7

Watford v Bristol City

Liverpool v Everton

Brighton v Crystal Palace

Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan

Coventry v Stoke City

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal

Manchester United v Derby

Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom

Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon

Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester City

Manchester City v Burnley

Shrewsbury v West Ham United

Wolves v Swansea City

Newcastle United v Luton Town

Fulham v Southampton

Norwich City v Chelsea

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Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Rating: 4/5

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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.”

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Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

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Updated: February 21, 2024, 11:27 AM