Trouble at Bayern

European round-up

IT HAS been a stormy week for Bayern Munich as they attempt to put pressure on the Bundesliga leaders, Borussia Dortmund. Three of the club's biggest names - their president Franz Beckenbauer, coach Otto Rehhagel and captain Lothar Matthaus have been locked in conflict.

Rumours of a power struggle between Beckenbauer and Rehhagel have circulated since the new coach arrived at the start of the season. They reached new heights after a television report that Beckenbauer had over-ruled Rehhagel and ordered that attacking midfielder Mehmet Scholl should play from the start against Hamburg last weekend.

That report brought angry denials from Bayern, including a written statement from Beckenbauer. But regardless of the report's accuracy, it only served to focus attention on who really wields the power at Bayern - Rehhagel or the triumvirate of Beckenbauer, the vice-president Karl- Heinz Rummenigge and the manager Uli Hoeness.

In Italy, in-form Fiorentina will be without the predatory Gabriel Batistuta when they travel to meet bottom-of-the-table Cremonese in the Italian League today. The Argentine, who scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 Italian Cup semi-final first-leg win over Internazionale on Thursday, is suspended for one match following a series of cautions.

Fiorentina emerged as Milan's main title challengers when they beat Parma 1-0 last week to go second, five points behind. Cremonese will look to the Serb midfielder Marko Perovic and Slovene striker Matjaz Florjancic in their relegation battle.

Today's most keenly awaited game is the Rome derby. Lazio, fifth, go into the game 13 points behind Milan but two points clear of sixth-placed Roma.

In an effort to dissipate tension between rival fans, Roma's Argentine striker Abel Balbo met his compatriot the Lazio defender Jose Chamot for a public pre-match chat. "I'll offer Balbo a meal after the game but out on the pitch I won't let him move a centimetre," Chamot said. "The only time you'll see me will be in the dressing-room before the game," Balbo replied.

The leaders Milan are at home to second-from-bottom Bari, the only side to have beaten them in the league this season. They may rest Roberto Baggio, who is suffering from a back problem, while the Croat Zvonimir Boban has again been dropped to make way for the first-choice foreign trio of George Weah, Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly.