Paris Saint-Germain advanced safely into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday, beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at the Parc des Princes in their last 16, second leg to take the tie 6-1 on aggregate.
Trailing 4-0 from the first leg in Germany three weeks ago, the Germans took an early lead on the night through Sidney Sam, but Marquinhos equalised soon after.
Leverkusen captain Simon Rolfes had a penalty saved before Ezequiel Lavezzi put PSG in front eight minutes into the second period, and the sending-off of Emre Can saw the Bundesliga club bow out with 10 men.
“I’m feeling a bit sorry for the team that we didn’t get anything from the game,” said Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia after seeing his side lose for the sixth time in seven matches.
“The starting point was difficult after losing 4-0 at home but we can take a lot of confidence for the future.”
No team had ever been eliminated from a European knock-out tie after winning 4-0 away in the first leg and PSG coach Laurent Blanc made the most of his side’s comfortable cushion by rotating his squad, as Thiago Motta and Alex dropped to the bench.
Blaise Matuidi was rested altogether to avoid the risk of incurring a suspension for the next round.
It was still a strong PSG line-up, with Edinson Cavani starting for the first time in over a month after injury but, perhaps understandably, there was an air of complacency about the hosts early on, and Leverkusen took full advantage.
“It’s all well and good saying to the players `forget the first game’ but it’s true that subconsciously you tell yourself you’ve got a bit of a cushion,” said PSG coach Laurent Blanc. “But there were players out there who don’t play that much and you have to show your best level. The Champions League is a level above and I was expecting more from my team.”
A low long-range strike by Can that was pushed around the post by Salvatore Sirigu served as a warning to the Ligue 1 leaders, although it was not heeded, and the visitors opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
A lovely move started by Rolfes on the left saw Gonzalo Castro spread the play to Giulio Donati on the right flank, and the Italian’s cross was headed home by Sam at the back post.
If that raised hopes among the boisterous travelling support that their team could pull off the most improbable of comebacks, then those hopes were short-lived, as the equaliser on the night came just seven minutes later.
After Bernd Leno saved from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Yohan Cabaye’s resulting corner from the right was met by a thumping Marquinhos header that the German keeper could only help on its way into the net.
It was the young Brazilian defender’s third goal in this season’s Champions League and the hosts almost went on to take the lead shortly after but Ibrahimovic clipped his shot against the crossbar after a Cavani pass left him with just the keeper to beat.
Leverkusen’s recent form had increased the pressure on Hyypia, but they played some nice football in the first period and were handed the opportunity to retake the lead in the 28th minute.
When Christophe Jallet pulled back Eren Derdiyok inside the area, Croatian referee Ivan Bebek did not hesitate in pointing to the spot, and yet Rolfes saw his effort from 12 yards kept out as Sirigu made a great save diving low to his left.
Leno saved from Cavani at the other end shortly before the interval and PSG then took the lead eight minutes into the second period as Lucas Digne’s low ball from the left was fired low into the net by Lavezzi, for whom it was a fifth goal in his last six games.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Can was shown a second yellow card for diving midway through the second half, but they were spared greater punishment in the closing stages.
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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.”
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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