March 10. It is a date that assumes an importance in Liverpool's recent history.
Not so much March 10, 2016, though their inaugural meeting with Manchester United in continental competition might prove significant, but March 10, 2009. It was the last great European night at Anfield, the final remarkable occasion in a tradition that dated back almost half a century.
It finished Liverpool 4 Real Madrid 0. The final few minutes came to a soundtrack of the Kop chorusing Jay Spearing’s name as the untried local sauntered around in the midfield, his every touch cheered as the most decorated club in European football were vanquished. Liverpool had been Champions League winners in 2005 and finalists in 2007. They topped Uefa’s club rankings.
Now they are 45th, sandwiched by Club Brugge and Red Bull Salzburg. It is one indication of a startling decline. Another lies in the memories from continental clashes. The 2000s brought a series of superb occasions: twin semi-finals against Chelsea, two occasions when Barcelona were eliminated, memorable meetings with Real and Arsenal and Roma and Juventus and Olympiakos.
Read more: Manchester United's Louis van Gaal may not like the past, but Liverpool is his saving grace, writes Richard Jolly
Also see: Marcus Rashford example is Manchester United way with youth – would Jose Mourinho get it right?
But after eviscerating Real, Liverpool were eliminated by Chelsea, Guus Hiddink’s 3-1 triumph at Anfield marking the tipping point. Since then, arguably, Anfield’s greatest European occasion was a Europa League group game against Napoli. Steven Gerrard, with a hat-trick and a tour de force, transformed defeat into victory, but it did not carry the same significance as earlier victories.
There is a sense that Jurgen Klopp’s appointment represented a chance to turn the tide of history again. Liverpool’s most exciting appointment since Rafa Benitez, the architect of the demolition of Real, the German has a pedigree in continental competition. Even before Liverpool were pitted against United, the 2013 Champions League finalist was taking the Europa League more seriously than either Roy Hodgson or Brendan Rodgers, who seemed to regard it as an unwanted nuisance.
These are clubs that have been defined by their European adventures. Liverpool, unlike United, have a pedigree in the Europa League’s predecessor. They were Uefa Cup winners in 1973, signifying Bill Shankly had built his second great team, and 1976, paving the way for their maiden European Cup victory 12 months later. They were so again in 2001, Gerard Houllier’s team confounding expectations by eliminating Roma and Barcelona en route to a wonderful treble.
That was proof impetus from one competition can spill over into others.
Klopp’s brand of football relies on a similar sense of momentum, powering his teams forward and creating an overwhelming sense of belief. The synergy between club and manager should be strongest when Anfield’s great European nights are considered, the wall of noise that forms a stark contrast to the lack of atmosphere at many domestic encounters prompting comparisons with the unity exuded by the thousands of Borussia Dortmund fans in the Westfalenstadion’s giant “Yellow Wall”.
Anfield has lost its capacity to intimidate. It may rediscover it in a maiden European meeting with Liverpool’s fiercest rivals.
And while Klopp faces a tough task to restore Liverpool to the summit of either the English or the European games, a first step would be to generate a regular sense of excitement. The last seven years have featured too many underwhelming nights at Anfield, draws with FC Basel and Young Boys and FC Sion and Braga and Rubin Kazan and defeats to Zenit St Petersburg and Udinese and Fiorentina and Lyon.
The best performance in that time came from Real, brushing Liverpool aside in a 3-0 win in 2014. It was a far cry from the heady days of 2009 when the inspired pair of Gerrard and Fernando Torres, plus unlikely allies such as the scorer Andrea Dossena and the substitute Spearing, inflicted a historic humiliation.
Beating United, however it happens, would automatically render it a happy anniversary. Yet if it heralds the return of Anfield’s great European nights, it will be still more important.
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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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.”
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fixtures:
Tue, Oct 16, 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Kabul Zwanan; Wed, Oct 17, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Nangarhar Leopards; 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Paktia Panthers; Thu, Oct 18, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Kandahar Knights; 8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers; Fri, Oct 19, 8pm: First semi-final; Sat, Oct 20, 8pm: Second semi-final; Sun, Oct 21, 8pm: final
Table:
1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10
2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8
3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6
4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4
5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
The%20Specs
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All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia