Atletico Madrid are pinning their hopes on star striker Julian Alvarez as the player to finally break Real Madrid's spell over them in European competition.
The Argentina striker has become key to Atletico's attack since arriving from Manchester City last summer and will lead the line for them on Tuesday at the Bernabeu in the Uefa Champions League last 16.
It is a tie that Atletico dread the most. Given their record against their neighbours in the Uefa Champions League, it's easy to see why.
Atletico have reached three Champions League finals and lost every time, including against Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016. They were hammered 4-0 by Bayern Munich in a replay in their other European Cup final in 1974.
Those agonising defeats against Real, the first in extra-time and the second on penalties, were compounded by Los Blancos wins in the 2015 quarter-finals and 2017 semi-finals.
The only other occasion they have met in the competition was in 1959, when after an aggregate semi-final draw the tie went to a play-off. Real Madrid won that one as well, and went on to lift a fourth consecutive European Cup.
Their dominance in the competition has held until this day, with Carlo Ancelotti's side record 15-time winners and the current holders. Real have won the Champions League twice in the past three seasons.
Diego Simeone's Atletico team were ousted by Borussia Dortmund in last year's quarter-finals, one of the low points of a miserable campaign.
Sensing the need to rejuvanate his attacking options, Simeone gave his blessing to Atletico signing Alvarez for €85 million in the hope that the 25-year-old forward would become the cornerstone of their side.
"He has everything a player needs to play for Atletico Madrid, and for many years to come," said Simeone after Alvarez struck twice to help them beat German champions Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League group phase.
Alvarez has nine goals in his past 13 matches across competitions, and 21 strikes in 40 games in total.
The striker kept his nerve to net an ice-cold Panenka penalty against Real Madrid in a 1-1 La Liga derby draw in February at the Bernabeu.
Alvarez has quickly formed a bond on the pitch with Atletico talisman Antoine Griezmann. Alvarez came off the bench to send Atletico top of La Liga on Saturday with the only goal in a 1-0 victory against Athletic Bilbao, although Barcelona moved back clear of the Rojiblancos on Sunday by a point.
"When we learned that it was confirmed, his arrival, it made us very happy, very happy indeed," said Simeone at the weekend.
"[That's] because a different calibre player was coming, like in his day, Luis Suarez.
"They are special players, they have a talent, they have something others don't, like when [David] Villa came, players who can make the difference."
Alvarez's importance on the pitch cannot be overstated; the Argentine's sharp finishing, mobility, ability to link the play and high work-rate mark him out as an impressive teammate and a player able to decide matches.
Though his move from Manchester City last summer did not cause too many tremors, it is being keenly felt by the English champions this season as they are of of the Champions League and well off the pace in defence of their Premier League title.
"Every move he gets involved in, he improves," said impressed Athletic striker Inaki Williams.
Simeone requires great intensity from his players, with those who don't sweat for the club badge not lasting long at Atletico.
Despite arriving as a World Cup winner with Argentina and a Champions League and double Premier League winner with City, Alvarez has shown no airs and graces.
His dedication to what Simeone demands of him makes him already seems a better fit than the one more expensive player in the club's history: Joao Felix.
The Portuguese striker flopped at the Metropolitano and was sold to Chelsea last summer.
"[Alvarez] is a guy who won everything and he's the one who runs the most, you look at him and admire him," said Atletico defender Jose Gimenez.
"He is an example for all of us, from the youngest to the oldest."
The forward has a point of his own to prove too, after Pep Guardiola left him on the bench during City's 2023 Champions League final win over Inter Milan.
"I didn't get to play in the Champions League final, I didn't play much in the semi-finals," Alvarez told Argentine news site Infobae.
"Something inside me told me that I needed a different challenge, to look for something new."
Alvarez has found that with Atletico and aims to give the Rojiblancos a new experience against Real Madrid in Europe too.
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
if you go
Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff
By Sean Penn
Simon & Schuster
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Four%20scenarios%20for%20Ukraine%20war
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Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
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The%20specs%20
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Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Racecard
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 3.6 V6
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Power: 295bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: Dh155,000
On sale: now
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
