Real Madrid, Juventus Tries to Catch Division Leaders
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
PARIS (Oct 25, 1998 - 18:56 EST) - European champions Real Madrid and Juventus, the side they beat in last May's Champions Cup final, both have to play catch-up in their domestic leagues as they chase pacesetters Mallorca and Fiorentina following this weekend's action.
Italian Champions Juventus had World Cup star Zinedine Zidane and Dutchman Edgar Davids sent off but still beat rivals Inter Milan 1-0 in a controversial Serie A clash in Turin on Sunday night, Alessandro Del Piero netting a late winner on the rebound from a missed penalty.
But Fiorentina still lead the way with a two-point advantage after trouncing Salernitana 4-0, Brazilian striker Edmundo their star man with two goals. Deadly Argentinian striker partner Gabriel Batistuta likewise hit a brace.
AC Milan are third after just edging Roma 3-2 in a thriller thanks to George Weah's winner. But neighbors Inter face a tough period of self-examination as Sunday's loss at Juve followed a 5-3 home defeat to Lazio and dropped them to sixth.
Racing Santander thwarted Real Madrid's hopes of moving back to the top in Spain by holding their illustrious opponents to a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu stadium.
An injury-time equalizer by Pedro Munitis Alvarez gave Santander, who earlier led, an unexpected point and allowed Mallorca to edge a point clear after the Canary islanders swamped Atletico Madrid 4-0.
Mallorca, whose goals came from Yugoslav Veljko Paunovic in the first half and Bisan Lauren, a Jovan Stankovic penalty and Francisco Soler in the second, now lead with 15 points from their seven matches.
Real have 14, one ahead of both Celta Vigo, 2-0 winners Saturday over Zaragoza, and Barcelona, who won their local derby at Espanyol 2-1.
Bayern Munich are looking unassailable in the German Bundesliga after crushing reigning champions Kaiserslautern 4-0 on Saturday at a sold-out Olympic stadium.
Brazilian striker Giovane Elber was the star with goals in the 52nd and 56th minutes, while he also set up the other two for Mario Basler and Iranian international Ali Daei.
The Bavarians' victory made up for last season when they lost out to Lautern in the title race -- and also lost both their games to Otto Rehhagel's men.
Defeat dropped Kaiserslautern three places to 10th and they are not expecting a recovery until they get injured stars Olaf Marschall, Ratinho, Michael Schjoenberg, Martin Wagner and Andreas Buck back from injury.
Bayern now lead the table with 25 points, five ahead of city rivals 1860 Munich, who drew 1-1 against Leverkusen on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen controlled the game and went ahead after seven minutes when German international Ulf Kirsten converted a penalty, awarded for handball.
Harald Cerny set up Bernd Hobsch for a late equalizer to rescue a point.
The race for the French title is a clear two-horse race with Bordeaux getting their noses back in front Sunday after two goals from Lilian Laslandes saw off promoted Nancy 2-0.
Marseille had briefly taken over as leaders after crushing struggling Sochaux 4-0 at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday with two goals each for Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli and Titi Camara.
But Laslandes ensured that the joy of the 1993 European Cup champions was short-lived by heading Bordeaux into a 26th-minute lead and then driving home a right-foot shot for the second goal right at the death to restore a one-point lead after ten matches.
It was Bordeaux's sixth straight home win at their Parc Lescure.
In Sunday's other game, reigning champions Lens slumped 1-0 at Montpellier, Maoulida scoring in the 57th minute to leave Lens struggling in 11th place after just three wins.
Metz bagged their first win of the campaign, beating Monaco 1-0 with a first-half Bruno Rodriguez penalty.
That allowed Rennes to leapfrog Monaco by defeating Lorient 1-0, Burundi striker Shabani Nonda on target in the first half. Auxerre beat Lyon 1-0 to climb to fourth with Steve Marlet scoring.
Paris Saint Germain, who had Francis Llacer sent off for a second yellow card, are still stuck in mid-table despite hiring Portuguese coach Artur Jorge after a goalless draw in Nantes.
