SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

GERMAN LEAGUE PREVIEW Injury-hit Bayern head to resurgent Dortmund

BERLIN: Injury-hit Bayern Munich head to time out going down 2-0 in Munich to goes for now.” With five wins and two draws resurgent today shorn of Borussia Moenchengladbach, a fortnight in their last seven league games, Dortmund GERMAN TABLE their top stars and with the hosts out to ago. There is, however, no talk of an upset have pulled away from the Bundesliga’s rele- prove there is still life in Germany’s ‘Der from the Dortmund camp. “At the moment gation zone. They are free to focus on their Klassiker’. The Bundesliga has been won it’s certainly not a top-of-the-table clash domestic form following their Champions BERLIN: German Bundesliga table ahead of this week- twice each by Dortmund and Bayern over when you look at the table,” admitted League exit to Juventus in the last 16. end’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals the last four years and the media here has Dortmund’s director of sport Michael Zorc. Even missing Ribery, Alaba and Robben, against, points): dubbed their meetings ‘Der Klassiker’- “But it will still grab the attention of millions Klopp expects Bayern to be dangerous. “We Bayern Munich 26 20 4 2 70 13 64 Germany’s answer to Spain’s ‘El Clasico’ of fans across Germany.” still have to reckon with some top quality VfL Wolfsburg 26 16 6 4 57 29 54 between Barcelona and Real Madrid. But a from Bayern, those boys can all play foot- Bayer Leverkusen 26 12 9 5 45 29 45 glance at the Bundesliga table highlights ‘Bad news’ ball,” he said. “But the fact is, Bayern will Bor. Moenchengladbach 26 13 8 5 37 20 47 Dortmund’s dramatic fall from grace this With Germany winger Marco Reus in have to make a few changes without their Schalke 04 26 11 6 9 37 31 39 season with Jurgen Klopp’s side currently superb form for both club and country three fastest players, which is what we have Augsburg 26 12 2 12 33 34 38 tenth having started February bottom of the alongside top-scorer Pierre-Emerick to be concerned about. “You have to pre- Hoffenheim 26 10 7 9 40 38 37 table after a disastrous run of results. Aubameyang, Dortmund have the attack to pare yourself for how the opposition will 26 9 7 10 49 52 34 In contrast, Bayern are ten points clear in cause Bayern problems. “We have generally line-up against you.” Without Robben, Werder Bremen 26 9 7 10 41 54 34 the league table and heading towards a never given up on a home game in Bayern’s top scorer this season with 17 goals Borussia Dortmund 26 9 6 11 34 33 33 third straight league title. But Pep advance,” said Klopp, who will be without in 21 games, Guardiola will be missing some Mainz 05 26 6 12 8 35 36 30 Guardiola’s Bavarians will be missing injured Germany squad members Kevin Grosskreutz pace on the flanks, especially on the left Cologne 26 7 9 10 26 32 30 key stars Arjen Robben, David Alaba and and Erik Durm. “I would suggest we don’t without wing-back Alaba and winger Ribery. Hertha Berlin 26 8 5 13 31 44 29 Franck Ribery at the Signal Iduna Park. talk much and instead try to put in a good “It’s bad news,” said Bayern captain Philipp Hanover 96 26 7 6 13 29 42 27 Defender Holger Badstuber is struggling performance. “We’re not at the same level as Lahm. “They are really important for us. We Freiburg 26 5 10 11 26 36 25 with a hip injury, but veteran striker Claudio Bayern and, unless I am mistaken, we never mustn’t complain, we need to look forward. Hamburg 26 6 7 13 16 37 25 Pizarro is set to return from a leg injury. have been, but we have never considered “We’ve got a big squad and have to com- Paderborn 26 5 9 12 23 50 24 Bayern lost for the third time this season last ourselves to have no chance and that also pensate for losses like this.” — AFP VfB Stuttgart 26 5 8 13 27 46 23

FRENCH LEAGUE PREVIEW ITALIAN LEAGUE PREVIEW Tension mounts ahead of PSG aiming to strike blow crucial Roma-Napoli clash

MILAN: Rome will be on high alert today as Roma host Napoli for in ‘Classique’ showdown the first time since a supporter was killed last year in clashes between the teams’ rival fans. The game has been scheduled for : 1030 GMT (1230 local time) due to fears over fan violence. Last Paris Saint-Germain can strike a major blow in the take advantage when they go to Guingamp today. Hubert May, Napoli fan Ciro Esposito was shot and killed by a hardline title race by continuing their impressive recent record Fournier’s side, who lost 2-1 at home to Nice in their last out- Roma ‘ultra’ supporter on the fringes of the Italian Cup final. City against when the bitter rivals meet at the Stade ing, are without the injury-prone Yoann Gourcuff as well as officials have banned visiting Napoli fans from the game and tick- Velodrome tomorrow. The defending champions have spent right-back , who suffered a dislocated et sales among the Roma supporters are not expected to soar most of the season playing catch-up at the top but finally shoulder on international duty. Meanwhile, Monaco remain either. reached the summit after beating Lorient 3-1 in their last out- dangerous outsiders in the title race as they sit six points But the match itself is crucial to both sides’ Champions ing a fortnight ago, leading Lyon by one point and Marseille in behind the leaders with a game in hand. The principality club League qualification hopes. With Juventus boasting a 14-point third by two points. entertain Saint-Etienne, just one point behind them in fifth, at lead over second-placed Roma, the Bianconeri look to already ’s side have dominated the fixture known as the Stade Louis II on Friday. “We are aiming to continue climb- have a fourth consecutive scudetto sewn up.But the race to join ‘Le Classique’ in recent years, with their 2-0 win at the Parc des ing the table. Every match is decisive now,” said Monaco them in the Champions League next season is far from over, and Princes in November their sixth in a row against OM. Indeed, coach Leonardo Jardim, who will be without veteran defender faltering Roma are the target for several hopefuls, including they have won seven and drawn one of the last eight match- Ricardo Carvalho due to a twisted knee. Elsewhere, Bordeaux, Napoli. A remarkable return of eight draws from a recent nine- ups since going down 3-0 at the Velodrome in November in sixth, host Lens tomorrow, while bottom side Metz enter- game run effectively ended Roma’s title hopes and left Rudi 2011, when Andre Ayew was among Marseille’s scorers. tain fellow strugglers Toulouse and Lorient host Brittany rivals Garcia’s men holding just a one-point lead over city rivals Lazio “Before the current period, Paris were struggling because we Rennes on Saturday. — AFP with 10 games remaining. Sampdoria sit in fourth, four points further adrift, with Napoli were better off financially,” recalled Ayew, the son of former in fifth a further point off the pace. Roma finally got back to win- Marseille and Ghana star Abedi Pele, in an interview with FRENCH LIGUE 1 TABLE ning ways away to Cesena prior to the international break, but sports daily L’Equipe this week. will be without injured striker Gervinho.Roma forward Adem “Since being taken over by the Qataris, Paris have taken on another dimension. We need to be realistic. They have Ljajic says beating Napoli is important to keep Lazio at bay. PARIS: French Ligue 1 table ahead of this weekend’s “Today’s game counts a lot for both sides, but we want to go out brought in players to build a great team and they proved that matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, and play our game and try to win,” Ljajic said. “Lazio are a top against Chelsea,” he added with a nod to PSG’s Champions side and are having a great run at the moment, but for now League last-16 win over the London side last month. “Playing points): we’re in second and we’ll do everything to stay there.” While vic- in a Classique is unique. My dad always used to say to me that Paris Saint-Germain 30 16 11 3 55 28 59 tory has eluded Roma of late, Napoli have not exactly been blaz- these were matches you couldn’t lose.” Marseille have climbed Lyon 30 17 7 6 57 24 58 ing a trail, dropping five points behind Lazio after winning only right back into contention after taking seven points from a Marseille 30 17 6 7 60 31 57 one of their last six league games. possible nine in March having previously gone four games Monaco 29 15 8 6 35 21 53 An eventual slip-up by Roma could see high-flying Lazio, without a win. And Marcelo Bielsa’s side will look to make the Saint-Etienne 30 14 10 6 37 24 52 who are away at Cagliari, move up to second place, adding spice most of having home advantage, with a record crowd of Bordeaux 30 13 9 8 38 37 48 to the existing bitter rivalry between the capital clubs. “Finishing around 64,000 expected at the renovated Velodrome, where Montpellier 29 13 6 10 39 32 45 second (behind Juve but above Roma) would be like winning the atmosphere can be among the most raucous in Europe. the title for us,” Lazio captain Stefano Mauri told Sky Sport. “In Lille 30 11 8 11 27 26 41 the city, people are really starting to feel the rivalry and our fans “This match is always a bit special,” Paris coach Laurent Nantes 30 10 10 10 24 30 40 are desperate for us to go ahead of Roma.” Blanc, who played in the fixture for OM for two seasons in the Guingamp 30 12 3 15 32 41 39 Fiorentina host Sampdoria in a clash that, while considered late 1990s, told PSG TV. “A sort of supremacy is at stake but at Rennes 30 10 9 11 28 37 39 crucial for their respective European hopes, was already expect- the end of the day there is only three points up for grabs. It is Nice 30 10 7 13 33 37 37 ed to serve up a cracking game between two attacking sides. an exciting game to take part in for various reasons, especially SC Bastia 30 9 10 11 30 34 37 Vincenzo Montella’s men have lost only once in their last 11 because of the satisfaction we can give to the supporters.” Caen 30 9 8 13 44 44 35 league games but welcome Sinisa Mihajlovic’s team with Marseille coach Bielsa has a decision to make in attack, where Reims 30 9 8 13 36 50 35 doubts over the availability of winger Manuel Pasqual and Andre-Pierre Gignac has been the first choice this season but Evian 30 11 2 17 32 46 35 defender Stefan Savic.Sampdoria are looking for their fifth win is the man in form. Batshuayi came off the Lorient 30 10 4 16 34 41 34 on the trot and should be confident following a well-deserved bench to score twice in the 4-0 win against Lens last time out home win over Inter Milan two weeks ago that left Mihajlovic and the Belgian, who made his full international debut last Toulouse 30 9 5 16 31 49 32 purring. “It was the best football we’ve played all season,” said weekend, has scored six goals in his last five games. Lens 30 6 7 17 27 47 25 the Serbian. —AFP With their main rivals facing each other, Lyon will hope to Metz 30 5 8 17 22 42 23