Jose Mourinho was preparing for another week as Chelsea manager with the stakes raised even higher.
Wednesday's Uefa Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev and next Saturday's Premier League game at Stoke have additional significance after Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool inflicted another defeat on Mourinho's beleaguered side, winning 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The 52-year-old Portuguese was subject of the first managerial vote of confidence in Roman Abramovich’s 12-year ownership on October 5, in the wake of a home loss to Southampton.
The caveat was that results had to improve, but Chelsea have won only one of their five games since.
Abramovich has wielded the managerial axe with regularity when a place in the Premier League’s top four and qualification for the Champions League have been in danger.
READ MORE:
– Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho tries to ‘disconnect’ from mounting pressure after Liverpool defeat
– The six defeats that have led Jose Mourinho to brink of Chelsea sack — in pictures
Chelsea are 15th after six losses in the opening 11 games - 10 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United - and the question is whether Abramovich will show patience with Mourinho, the most successful manager in the club’s history.
It is understood the Chelsea board’s position is unchanged since the statement four weeks ago, with Abramovich prepared to give Mourinho time to climb out of the current predicament.
Mourinho told Chelsea TV of the Dynamo contest: “It’s a big game. It’s a game that we cannot lose.”
The Portuguese, who is in his second spell and signed a four-year contract extension until June 2019 on the eve of the season, may not just have been referring to Chelsea’s prospects of progressing to the knockout stages, but also to his own position.
Mourinho’s problems on the pitch have been compounded by disciplinary issues off it, and his sending off in the defeat to West Ham last weekend is the subject of one of two separate proceedings with the Football Association.
He is expected to hear the result of his appeal against a £50,000 fine and suspended one-match stadium ban for comments made about referee Robert Madley in the aftermath of the Southampton defeat soon.
Former Chelsea midfielder and coach Ray Wilkins dismissed suggestions Mourinho’s relationship with some of his players is close to breaking point and expects the Blues to stick with the manager.
“I think they’re behind Mourinho - they’re just not performing,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek.
“That’s one of Jose’s major assets. He has the ability not to control but to actually talk and get all the players on his side.
“I think Jose will (still) be in the job. Who can take over? There’s only Carlo Ancelotti out there at the moment that is out of work and can fill the position. I think they’ll continue with Jose.”
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One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
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FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Racecard
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
The National selections
6.30pm: Chaddad
7.05pm: Down On Da Bayou
7.40pm: Mass Media
8.15pm: Rafal
8.50pm: Yulong Warrior
9.25pm: Chiefdom
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
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Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules