Pep Guardiola is excited about the prospect of returning to his former club Barcelona, though he acknowledges that Manchester City have their work cut out to advance from a testing Uefa Champions League group.
City have been drawn in Group C alongside Barcelona, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Celtic, with Guardiola set to return to the club where he began his career and managed with distinction for four seasons.
“I can’t deny it’s something special for me to return to Barcelona,” he said on Friday. “I grew up there, to play there at 13 to become a footballer.
“Most of my life I spent there, I know the people, the club, the media, most of the players, the emotion is there.”
• Uefa Champions League forecast: Ian Hawkey assesses each group and predicts the winners
Guardiola has come up against Barca before, and will be hoping that his City side enjoy better fortunes than Bayern Munich, who lost 5-3 on aggregate in the 2014/15 semi-finals.
“It happened with Bayern,” he said. “The first time it’s ‘wow’, the second time it’s the second time, then it’s normal.”
City also have to negotiate Scottish champions Celtic and Gladbach, who finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season.
“We’ll have to make our best performance to go through to the next stage,” Guardiola said. “I know Barcelona quite well and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
“I have a lot of respect for Celtic. They have a lot of experience in Europe.”
Guardiola has enjoyed a 100 per cent record at City, seeing off Steaua Bucharest 6-0 on aggregate in the Champions League playoff and dispatching Sunderland and Stoke City in the Premier League.
He will not be handing a debut to new goalkeeper Claudio Bravo for the visit of West Ham United on Sunday, while striker Kelechi Iheanacho should be in contention after an injury scare against Steaua.
“Kelechi was almost nothing so it was a scare but he’s fine,” Guardiola said. “Everybody’s fit and ready, we trained with 30 players today.”
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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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
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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