Sometimes, the most expensive treasures gain value in their rarity. As it turns out, €400 million (Dh1.75 billion) does not buy that many minutes of premium-quality striking partnership.
When Kylian Mbappe and Neymar line up in the same starting XI for the Champions League final on Sunday it will be only the fourth time they have done so in the competition this season.
What with suspensions, and strained young muscles, Paris Saint-Germain have had to be patient to see the most expensive pairing of forwards in football history in glorious tandem on the grand stage. They needed still more more patience for the moment their mammoth, €1bn investment over the past nine years took them close to the prize they most desire.
In the end, the last step seemed a breeze. PSG are in a European Cup final for the first time after overwhelming RB Leipzig on Tuesday in Lisbon.
They got there with no trace of the brittle, nervous characteristics the Paris club have displayed in previous seasons in Europe’s knockout phases and they achieved their sought-after target with Neymar and Mbappe together for all but the last four minutes of normal time, when, 3-0 ahead, Mbappe was withdrawn to spare any complication of his recovery from the ankle injury he picked up in late July.
Neither of them scored against Leipzig, either, a fact that will perturb Thomas Tuchel, the head coach, very little.
“The players showed the hunger to win, to work together, to suffer together, and that’s what you benefit from,” said Tuchel, looking forward to what he called “the biggest night of my life in Lisbon this weekend.”
He has always stressed his PSG should be about a squad, not just two superstars, but he will still be happy to have Neymar and Mbappe relatively fresh, and seeking overdue goals.
Because of the pandemic, France’s Ligue 1 was abandoned in March, so in the past five months, PSG have played just four games, two domestic cup finals and two one-legged knockouts in the Champions League.
Not that there were too many symptoms of rustiness against Leipzig, the Germans effectively beaten by half time thanks to two slick routines, one with the stamp of streamlined rehearsal, the other via a touch of spontaneous, brimming confidence.
After Neymar had earned a free-kick early, Angel Di Maria’s superb delivery teed up a headed goal from Marquinhos, his markers undone by the precision of the Di Maria cross and the timing of the scorer’s run and leap; Di Maria then scored PSG’s second after he had been teed up by a delightful, airborne, intuitive Neymar flick.
It would be Di Maria’s night as much as Neymar’s, more than Mbappe’s. “We stuck to our principles, using the acceleration of Angel, Neymar and Mbappe,” said Tuchel, pleased with “the good mix of determination and quality.”
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PSG v Leipzig player ratings
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Though Di Maria, purchased for a mere €64m from Manchester United five summers ago, may not carry the same size of transfer fee as Neymar - €222m - or Mbappe - €180m - his contributions to the fabulous front three are no less precious.
The Di Maria left foot is a magic wand when he is in form. At 32, he retains his sharp turn of pace. That lean frame - he is known as El Fideo, ‘The Noodle’ - can snake its way out of the tightest spots and his experience on the big stage will be an asset on Sunday.
Di Maria knows the Lisbon venue intimately. He played for Benfica, usual tenants of the Estadio da Luz, and put in a man-of-the-match performance, for Real Madrid, the last time the Luz staged a Champions League final, in 2014.
After that, the Argentine joined Manchester United for the unhappiest year of his senior career, but one he can look back on as atypical.
Five years on, and a season after United were the last establishment grandee to knock a fragile PSG out of the competition before the semis, Di Maria will feel he is on the right escalator, as indeed will PSG's other United ex, Ander Herrera, or for that matter Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young, formerly of Old Trafford and, as of Monday night, Europa League finalists with Inter Milan, who will meet Sevilla for that prize on Friday.
A new order may be taking shape. No English clubs will contest either of the weekend’s European showpieces after four were involved in them last season.
And if PSG carry through their momentum, the greatest prize of all will have the name of a new city, Paris, etched onto it.
Skoda Superb Specs
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Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh1,470,000 (est)
Engine 6.9-litre twin-turbo W12
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 626bhp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,350rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.0L / 100km
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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.”
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
GYAN’S ASIAN OUTPUT
2011-2015: Al Ain – 123 apps, 128 goals
2015-2017: Shanghai SIPG – 20 apps, 7 goals
2016-2017: Al Ahli (loan) – 25 apps, 11 goals
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
Brief scores:
Juventus 3
Dybala 6', Bonucci 17', Ronaldo 63'
Frosinone 0
