Cristiano Ronaldo will be devastated. He went to Real Madrid with dreams of winning the European Cup. He was part of a grand plan, the most costliest signing in the most expensive team ever assembled.
And now, after losing to a very good Lyon side who adopted the perfect game plan, he'll be sitting at home watching his former Manchester United teammates progress through the competition.
The team will always come first for Ronaldo, but footballers don't win the individual awards like he did in 2008 playing for teams who get knocked out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage.
It is the sixth consecutive season that the mighty Real Madrid have failed to get past that stage. Maybe the media who are slaughtering the coach at the moment should take a look at themselves and realise that changing the manager eight times in five years is not good for the stability of the club. Maybe they should look at English clubs who give their coaches more than five minutes in charge and usually reap the benefits.
I was at Old Trafford on Wednesday night for another magical evening in European competition. My enthusiasm and respect for the way United, and especially Wayne Rooney, performed was only matched by disappointment at AC Milan.
They may not be the force they were, but Milan still have top quality players. They needed to score a goal, but they were so timid. I sat with my former teammate Denis Irwin and neither of us could believe how much space the Milan defenders gave Rooney for his first goal.
So United march on alongside Arsenal. Maybe Chelsea will follow next week, again confirming the dominance of English clubs in the latter stages of the Champions League. One reason I think they do so well is because of the strength of the Premier League.
In a league where Burnley can beat Manchester United, competition is fierce. Compare that with Spain's Primera Liga, where Real and Barca win every week and do not face the same challenges.
I know Barca are the European Cup holders and an exceptional side, but a stronger domestic league would be good for Spanish football.
Arsenal impressed me immens-ely against Porto and my estimation of Arsene Wenger is at an all- time high.
He has a fraction of the money that Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini have, yet his side are still in contention for the Premier League and are still in Europe.
Arsenal play great football and Wenger continues to pluck players few people had heard of and turn them into big stars. Had you heard of Thomas Vermaelen a year ago?
Wenger gives young players a chance and stays true to the Arsenal tradition of developing emerging talent. That reputation was what made me choose to go to Arsenal over Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Celtic when I was a kid.
Highbury, those historic marble halls, Double winners, great football tradition, so many trophies and all that business. Couldn't fail, could I? Arsenal just had to be the place for a confident boy like me with special young players like David Rocastle, Kevin Campbell, Paul Davies and Michael Thomas. You only had to look at the teamsheet to see that Arsenal was the place where footballers were made, not born.
It was the place where superkids were granted early first-team opportunities. That was priority number one for me. The other was that there were a lot of black players excelling there.
There was one big problem why I only played twice for Arsenal: George Graham, the manager. Or Gorgeous George as I called him. He didn't like me and I didn't like him. I was young and so determined to become a top player that I didn't want anything to get in my way, not least a manager who wouldn't give me chances when I thought I deserved them. Maybe my self-assured nature came across as arrogant, but I was desperate to prove myself.
George pulled me into his office one day and said: "You think you're the bees' knees don't you?" I was 15, but I wasn't having him talking to me like that and came back with: "No. And I'm not having you tell me what I am." Gorgeous George just shouted, "Out!" and pointed to the door. Their problem was that they knew I had something and could play.
I only wish Arsene Wenger would have been manager when I went there, someone to shape me and encourage me rather than be confrontational. As it was, I went on loan to Fulham and then Arsenal sold me to Bristol City. I did have plenty of chances to play at Highbury - usually slotting goals in for Manchester United, with Arsenal fans hopefully wondering why a kid who loved their club so much was ever allowed to leave.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
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
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
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
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
