The importance of record-setting striker Gonzalo Higuain has been brought home to Serie A leaders Napoli but most eyes on Sunday will be on Inter Milan’s bid for a crucial derby win at AC Milan.
Napoli tightened their lead at the top of Italy’s top flight last week to remain two points ahead of champions Juventus before welcoming Empoli to the San Paolo on Sunday.
But the Azzurri, who won the last of their two league titles in 1990 when Diego Maradona was still in his heyday, suffered a scare when Higuain narrowly avoided a serious injury knock on Thursday.
Higuain, who has hit 21 league goals in as many games this season, hobbled off the pitch with a sore ankle during a friendly match with San Vito Positano.
Although he is expected to be fit, all eyes were on coach Maurizio Sarri at Napoli’s Castel Volturno training ground on Thursday.
Sarri was slapped with a two-game Cup ban for a recent homophobic rant at Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini but, to show he meant no ill feeling towards homosexuals, he accepted to play a friendly game against the local, fifth division side, whose president Alessandro Cecchi Paone is openly gay.
The gesture almost backfired, but served to underline Napoli’s reliance on their main source of goals this season.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, one of 64 people targeted by Naples prosecutors for alleged false accounting and tax evasion in midweek, said: “I always wanted us to play a midweek match against a lower league team, now we have this friendly thanks to Cecchi Paone and Sarri.
“The unknown factor is what has happened to Higuain.”
As Higuain looks to maintain his impressive goals quest, compatriot Mauro Icardi is among several Inter Milan strikers under pressure to perform as the club’s title ambitions hang increasingly in the balance.
Inter have scored only four times in their past five league outings, losing two, drawing two and winning only once to slip to fourth in the table at six points behind Napoli.
“I’m 50 years old, and even I would have scored from some of the chances we had,” Mancini lashed out last week after 10-man Carpi hit a late leveller to snatch a 1-1 draw at the San Siro.
If Mancini was hoping to embarrass his men into action, he may now be looking for a different approach after another setback in midweek.
A 3-0 defeat to Juventus blew a hole in Inter’s Italian Cup hopes in the first leg of their semi-final, when Icardi was left on the bench in favour of Stevan Jovetic.
Inter will look to appease fans with a second consecutive derby win on Sunday against a Milan side that, going on their own Cup semi-final display, has little to shout about.
A first-half penalty from Mario Balotelli, the striker’s first Milan goal in over four months, earned Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men a patchy 1-0 first leg win over third division Alessandria.
But Mihajlovic was less than impressed, berating his players for their “failure to put several early chances away”. He declared there will be no place for Balotelli in his starting XI on Sunday.
“Mario won’t be playing the derby because he’s not match fit. We’ve got four days to prepare for this game and the best team possible will be on the team sheet,” said the Serbian, a former midfielder with Inter.
Defeat for Inter would be a significant blow to their title hopes, and leave Napoli and Juventus with one less rival to worry about.
Juventus travel to Chievo with a four-point lead on Fiorentina and Inter, and are looking for their 12th consecutive league win a week after Paulo Dybala’s late winner secured a 1-0 home win over Roma.
Fixtures (UAE times)
Saturday
Carpi v Palermo (6pm), Atalanta v Sassuolo (9pm), Roma v Frosinone (11.45pm)
Sunday
Chievo v Juventus (3.30pm), Bologna v Sampdoria (6pm), Genoa v Fiorentina (6pm), Napoli v Empoli (6pm), Torino v Verona (6pm), Udinese v Lazio (6pm), AC Milan v Inter (11.45pm)
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if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
SECRET%20INVASION
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The%20specs
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Structural%20weaknesses%20facing%20Israel%20economy
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
