DUBAI // Perhaps the mood was emboldened by the nature of the win in el clasico on Saturday night. Maybe it was just because you can never take the Barcelona out of Xavi. But it is not so outlandish for the former Spain international midfielder to say that Barcelona have as good a shot as ever at becoming the first team to win the Uefa Champions League two years running.
Xavi, in Dubai on Monday at the opening of the new Go Sport store at Mall of the Emirates, was still exultant after the performance his former teammates put on in beating Real Madrid 4-0 at the Bernabeu, calling it a “historic” result.
“An amazing game for Barca,” he said. “They were much better than Real Madrid in everything, in attack, in defence, in rhythm, in intensity.”
And as Barcelona prepare to take on Roma on Tuesday, Xavi sees them venturing into uncharted territory twice in successive years. AC Milan were the last team to win the European Cup back to back, in 1989-90, before it became the Champions League.
“Why not the first team to win Champions League two years running?” Xavi said. “It is possible for Barcelona.
“It is only the mentality. No change in mentality for continuing to win. They have everything for continuing to win. It’s difficult because it’s the Champions League, but, yes, I expect them to win. It’s very difficult but Barca can do it.”
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Some of the belief must stem from the attacking riches the club has gathered. The return from injury of Lionel Messi – the best player ever according to Xavi – on Saturday night was important, but the rest of Europe must be balking at the injustice of it. After all, it is hardly as if Neymar and Luis Suarez have allowed his absence to be felt.
At his peak, Xavi also had a forward line to supply that was the envy of many, men such as Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho. This trio, he suggested, may be even better.
“Yes I think so. Neymar, Suarez, Messi, three of the best players at the moment, the best in the world right now. All together, with [Andres] Iniesta, [Sergio] Busquets, Ivan Rakitic also. Barca for me is the best.”
Inevitably, given the form he is in, Xavi was asked whether Neymar now ranks alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world. He could not help but let slip a little bit of Barca bias in his evaluation, though he did it, as ever, elegantly.
“I don’t know if Neymar is better than Ronaldo. I don’t know. Maybe in the future. But for me the best player in this moment and in history is Messi. Maybe in the future. Neymar is an amazing football player but still early to say this. For me now, and best in history is Messi.”
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
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