The trouble, when a club is as skillful at scouting talent, polishing it, and selling it on as Borussia Dortmund are, is that the old boys almost always come back to haunt you.
Some never seem to stop with their reminders that while Dortmund was their great launchpad, they can make it a punchbag too. When Robert Lewandowski scored the two goals that eliminated Dortmund from last season’s Uefa Champions League, he took to 29 - in 28 meetings - the total he had scored against his old club in the decade since he left Dortmund, aged 25, first for Bayern Munich and later moving onto Barcelona.
The previous European Cup campaign had taken Dortmund all the way to the final. They lost it to a Real Madrid galvanised by Jude Bellingham, who 10 months earlier joined Madrid, still only 19, from Dortmund for over €100 million.
Surveying elite football’s achievers and market-leaders has long been a bittersweet experience for Dortmund’s strategists, proud of a system that is as good as any at advancing individual careers and bringing in handsome transfer fees but reconciled to the fact those careers often soar higher elsewhere.
For Bellingham in 2024, read Ousmane Dembele in 2025. He was a Dortmund project, too, there for a single season before fetching a €100m-plus fee from Barcelona, who eventually let him go for barely half that to thrive at Paris Saint-Germain.
Dembele’s role in spearheading PSG’s first European Cup triumph last May helped him to the Ballon D’Or. Lewandowski was the leading goalscorer in last season’s Liga. Christian Pulisic, a Dortmund prodigy at 17, then a Champions League winner with Chelsea, scored more times than any AC Milan player in 2024-25.
And three months ago, Alexander Isak, whom Dortmund brought to Germany from Sweden aged 17 on a hunch that turned out to be wise - even if he underwhelmed in his few games for Dortmund’s first team - became, at 25, the most expensive player ever to be transferred between two clubs in the English Premier League, Newcastle United and Liverpool.
And that’s not to mention the footballer well on the way to being regarded as the finest, most valuable, most impactful graduate of the many 21st century stars to have worn Dortmund’s distinctive yellow.
Erling Haaland may have some catching up to do on Lewandowski’s mass of career goals but he is 12 years younger than the 37-year-old Pole. He may never fetch a transfer fee as high as Isak’s or Bellingham’s, but that would only be because Manchester City, who paid Dortmund €60m for Haaland in 2023, now have him on a contract until 2034.
This evening at the Etihad Stadium, Haaland lines up for the second time against his former club and even though more than three years have passed since the first reunion, it is still vivid in Dortmund minds.
It was an early autumn Champions League game and City came back from 1-0 behind, their match-winning goal a showreel highlight: Haaland launched himself high into the air, his body almost horizontal, a big blond karate kid connecting an outstretched left foot to a Joao Cancelo cross.
His nearest marker, Nico Schlotterbeck, wore the look of a man who believed there was no way anybody could reach Cancelo’s pass and instantly regretted the assumption.
Dortmund hope to have Schlotterbeck fit for this evening, and ready to partner Algeria’s Ramy Bensebaini in as tough an assignment as any in elite football: keeping Haaland at bay.
His current run of form is eye-catching even by the Norwegian’s standards. His brace against Bournemouth at the weekend took him to 17 City goals for the season so far, across the Champions League and domestic football, at a rate of a goal every 66 minutes.
He has already this season eased into the top 10 list of all-time Champions League marksmen, a roll of honour that has Cristiano Ronaldo (140 goals), Lionel Messi (129) and Lewandowski (105) in the podium positions. Among the 10, Haaland alone averages over a goal a game. Keep that up and his 53 goals so far would become a century in less than 50 further appearances.
Might he one day overhaul Messi and Ronaldo? “No, not all,” replied Haaland on Tuesday. “That’s far off. Nobody can get close to them two.”
“I had 57 [goals for club and country] one season,” he did point out, “but I don’t think about records. I focus on the next game. It’s how I need to think.”
His overall City ratio is just shy of dipping beneath a goal every 90 minutes and the one concern, voiced by City head coach Pep Guardiola, is that, so dazzling is his current in front of goal that it might create a sense of dependency. Haaland has scored over 65 percent of City’s goals in their two principal competitions - he has been rested for the early rounds of the League Cup - this season.
“He’s our key man,” acknowledges Guardiola, adding that Haaland’s influence is also growing in the dressing room. He is part of the ‘leadership group’ with whom the coach exchanges ideas and seeks feedback, chosen for that role, said Guardiola, because “I have the feeling he always has an eye on what is best for the team.
“That is difficult to find in players of this sort of ability, a real world-class player to be incredibly humble. Normally strikers just think about goals. I know he will score goals and have that impact. But the more he is involved in many things, so much the better.”
Sugary teas and iced coffees
The tax authority is yet to release a list of the taxed products, but it appears likely that sugary iced teas and cold coffees will be hit.
For instance, the non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Cold coffee brands are likely to be hit too. Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
**Director:**Athale
Rating: 4/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
More from Firas Maksad
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
While you're here
THE%20SWIMMERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESally%20El-Hosaini%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENathalie%20Issa%2C%20Manal%20Issa%2C%20Ahmed%20Malek%20and%20Ali%20Suliman%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
Riders must be 14-years-old or over
Wear a protective helmet
Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
Do not drive outside designated lanes
%E2%80%98FSO%20Safer%E2%80%99%20-%20a%20ticking%20bomb
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SPEC%20SHEET
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THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Scoreline
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’
MATCH INFO
Watford 2 (Sarr 50', Deeney 54' pen)
Manchester United 0
While you're here
While you're here
Winners
**Ballon d’Or (Men’s)**Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
**Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)**Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
**Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)**Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s PlayerVicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
**Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)**Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s GoalkeeperHannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the YearLuis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the YearSarina Wiegman (England)
On Women's Day