Diego Milito, the Inter Milan striker, takes part in training ahead of tonight's Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
Diego Milito, the Inter Milan striker, takes part in training ahead of tonight's Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Hope of a thrilling Champions League final



A quiet fear hangs over tonight's Champions League final, an unease that the event might too closely resemble the second legs of the ties that steered Inter Milan and Bayern Munich to their showdown in Madrid. If Inter become inclined too early in the match to stoically defend a lead, as they did over 180 minutes against Barcelona, then the neutral viewers would spend the evening starved of end-to-end entertainment.

But nor would those neutrals be perched on the edge of their seats if it turned out as one-sided as Bayern's 3-0 destruction of Olympique Lyonnais. Spoilers, as Inter were in Barcelona, do not make for great Cup finals. Neither do teams who are coasting, as Bayern quickly were in France. Happily there is enough about both contestants to indicate they have sufficient reserves of initiative and fibre to prevent any repeat of what happened on their previous outings. It is a novel final in many respects. It looks different from the seven previous Champions League deciders because it has a German club in it; it is unlike the five preceding finals because it does not have an English team involved.

It is fresh, and supposedly more child-friendly, because it is taking place on a Saturday. It is also a duel of classic, thoroughbred clubs. It may have been a long while since Inter were this close to capturing the European Cup, but they did so twice in the 1960s, just as Bayern had a hat-trick of such triumphs in the middle of the 1970s. Inter are most experts' likely champions. On the basis of recent form, though, Bayern should be favourites. They thrashed Lyon in the semis - it was 4-0 on aggregate - and they come to Spain on the back of a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen in the German Cup final and an emphatic finale to their successful Bundesliga campaign.

According strictly to form, Inter would be presented as the nervous qualifiers, victors by the narrowest margin in the last round, Italian champions thanks only to a 1-0 win on the last day of the Serie A season, chasing a treble thanks only to what was a close win in the Coppa Italia over Roma. Inter also lost their last Champions League match, 1-0 at Barcelona, although they came through thanks to an aggregate score of 3-2.

That decider in Catalonia unfairly shapes perceptions of how Inter construct their game plans, Jose Mourinho told those neutrals in the media who harbour the fear it could become a crabby final should his team strike first. "Yes, we didn't just park the bus [put most of the players behind the ball] at Barcelona, we parked an Airbus 340 with the wings stretched out!" he said of the rearguard action in the semi-final. "Why did we do that? We had a 3-1 advantage from the first game and we were down to 10 men in the second. But remember the first leg. We could have scored five that night, and I lined the team up with Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto'o, Goran Pandev and Diego Milito, all attacking players."

Mourinho knows that a label as a conservative and defensive coach sticks on him tenaciously. It is not a tag that Louis van Gaal, Bayern's head coach, has been inclined to peel off on Mourinho's behalf. Van Gaal was once Mourinho's boss, at Barcelona 12 years ago, and the Dutchman has been happy to repeat in the build-up to tonight his notion that Mourinho learned well but did not take on Van Gaal's belief that his teams "should try to entertain."

Mourinho's response? Respectful and grateful. "Louis van Gaal gave me the chance to work for three years in a great club. But I worked hard for it too. I had my tasks on the field, I went to scout our opponents, compiled reports, briefed the team about upcoming matches. Van Gaal was a great coach and always very honest with me. He also gave me advice on important decisions in my career." Then came the reminder of Mourinho's independent streak. "I'm not his disciple," said the former apprentice. "And remember: I know Van Gaal as a head coach. He doesn't know me as a head coach. He only knows Mourinho the assistant. And that's a big distinction."

sports@thenational.ae

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Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
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1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery 

Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges 

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Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks 

Ep5: Travel and tourism 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
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Number of staff: 210 
 
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MATCH INFO

Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')

Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')

Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)

Final round

25 under -  Antoine Rozner (FRA)

23 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG)

21 - Grant Forrest (SCO)

20 - Ross Fisher (ENG)

19 - Steven Brown (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Marc Warren (SCO), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)

Changing visa rules

For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.

Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.

It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.

The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.

The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.

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