Fickle fate casts shadow

In Spain, defending champions Barcelona, who last month insured themselves so they could pay out win bonuses when their players completed the treble of Champions League, Primera Liga and Spanish Cup, are suddenly looking as if they may win none of those prizes, as their season threatens to go from the sublime to the ridiculous.

In France – while established clubs like Marseille are mired in controversy, the whole of the first division has had to play second fiddle to fourth division Calais, who captivated the whole country by beating a Bordeaux team, featuring four French internationals – and one World Cup Winner – to book a place in the French Cup Final.

Three years ago, under Ottmar Hitzfeld, the unfashionable Dortmund stunned the world of football by beating Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final and followed that up with a 2-0 win over Brazil’s Cruzeiro in the Inter-continental (World Club Championship) final in Tokyo.

In 2000 they have failed to win in 12 games and lost their last six under Bernd Krauss who was sacked yesterday and replaced until the end of the season by Udo Lattek.

Lattek has five games to save the strugglers who this weekend face MSV Duisburg.

Back at the top Bayern, coached by Hitzfeld, have had a good week, having replaced Leverkusen at the top of the table thanks to a gutsy 2-1 win at SC Freiburg despite the sending off of Ghanaian Samuel Kuffour.