Juve, Deportivo, Bayern Hope to Stay in Clear
Copyright � 2000 Nando Media
Copyright � 2000 Agence France-Presse
PARIS (March 2, 2000 8:18 p.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - Juventus and Lazio will continue their dogfight at
the top of the table, but the spotlight for Italian football this weekend will be trained on Milan as AC face Inter in the derby.
In Spain, leader Deportivo La Coruna looks to keep a chasing quartet of clubs at arm's length, while in Germany Bayern Munich bids to consolidate what looks like being a successful defense of its Bundesliga title.
In France, it is Cup weekend with the likes of Monaco and Lyon mixing it with less heralded teams such as Pontivy and Paris Red Star in the last 16.
Juventus starts its home match in Italy against Bari with 50 points and a four-point lead at the top after needing only 10 men to beat AS Roma last Sunday.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti said: "It was a big achievement, there's no denying it. Putting three points between ourselves and a major rival who was on form was good for morale and good for our place in the table."
But the Biaconeri will still have another 10 Serie A games to go after this weekend and Ancelotti, a tough tackling midfielder for Italy in the 1990 World Cup, is taking nothing for granted.
"We're heading into a period which will give us no respite until the end of the season," he said.
"We are going to have to suffer right through to the very end. But we are ready," he added.
Bari coach Eugenio Fascetti will be hoping to avoid further
publicity after alleged racist remarks he made last weekend about Torino's Senegalese defender Djibril Diawara.
Lazio looks to bounce back after a humbling 2-1 home defeat to Feyenoord in the European Champions League when it travels to Lecce.
Lazio took things too easy in the last quarter of an hour against the Dutch side and two late goals have made things in Group D much more complicated and bruised team morale.
Coach Sven Goran Eriksson controversially left Chilean striker Marcelo Salas out of the side, saying afterwards: "What counts now is a reaction by the players - one that's professional, precise and immediate."
Up north, the Milan derby couldn't come at a more testing time for the two Lombardy clubs, with AC third on 45 pts and Inter fourth on 43 pts.
In Germany the top four teams in the Bundesliga all play away from home. Solid leaders and reigning champions Bayern Munich will be hoping to continue its past successes at VfB Stuggart where it has won 18 times at the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium, a club record for away victories.
