Bayern offer Klinsmann faint hope of recovery

Bayern Munich, desperate to bounce back from their humiliating 4-0 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League last week, crushed Eintracht Frankfurt by the same score on Saturday to move into second place in the Bundesliga on 51 points.

The win offers some respite to their coach, Jürgen Klinsmann (below), who is under fire for his team’s underwhelming recent performances. The German champions, who host the Catalans in the second leg tomorrow, are level on points with third-placed Hamburg SV, who lost 1-0 to VfB Stuttgart in last night’s late kick-off.

VfL Wolfsburg needed a late goal from the midfielder Sascha Riether to win 2-1 at Borussia Mönchengladbach and protect their three-point lead at the top with only seven games left.

Porto prepared for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United on Wednesday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Amadora in Portugal’s top flight. Bruno Alves put Porto ahead after 29 minutes before a second-half double from Ernesto Farias secured the win. Porto remain four points clear at the top of the table, but Sporting Lisbon kept up the pressure on the leaders with an impressive 3-1 home victory over Naval.

In France, Marseilles took over at the top of Ligue 1 yesterday after their 4-1 victory over Grenoble. Previous leaders Lyons are one point behind after being held 2-2 by Monaco with Girondins Bordeaux a further point adrift after they enjoyed a 2-0 win at mid-table Auxerre on Saturday. It was Bordeaux’s fourth win in a row and it came courtesy of goals from the Brazilians Fernando and Wendel. Lyons travel to Bordeaux next week.