Galician uprising in Spain

Bayern Munich lost the Munich Derby to 1860 for the first time in 22 years but remain top of the Bundesliga while in France aristocracy held the whip hand over the nouveau riche with Monaco, bankrolled by Prince Rainier, taking over the lead in the first division from Lyon, a city associated with France’s bourgeoise.

The big three of Spanish football defending champions Barcelona, outgoing World champions Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid all lost yesterday.

Neither leaders Deportivo or Vigo have ever won a title with the former famously denied on the last day of the 1993-94 season whenBrazilian World Cup winner Bebeto missed a penalty that would have taken the title to the North-western tip of Spain for the first time.

To be fair neither Deportivo nor Vigo can really claim to be homegrown. It was Dutchman Roy Makaay who laid the foundations for Deportivo’s triumph in Atletico’s Vicente Calderon Stadium.

He scored two brilliant goals before former Real Madrid’s Victor Sanchez Del Amo made it 3-0 before the interval although Ruben Baraja scored a consolation for Atletico.

Vigo rely on Russians Alexander Mostovoi and Valery Karpin for inspiration although it was former Barcelona man Alberto Celades who scored against Real.

Real are in midtable but only six points off the bottomplace. To make matters worse their expensive French striker Nicolas Anelka was omitted from the squad following claims in the Spanish papers that he was faking an injury to avoid having to play.

Barcelona’s fourth consecutive Primera Liga defeat means the defending champions are also in dire straits. They arenow seven points adrift of the Galician clubs.

Results
Italy: Roma 2 (Marco Delvecchio) bt Udinese 0; Lazio 0 drew Juventus 0; AC Milan 2 ( bt Parma 1; Inter 1 (Alvaro Recoba) bt Reggina 0

Germany: 1860 Munich 1 (Thomas Riedl) bt Bayern Munich 0; Werder Bremen 2 bt Hamburg 1

France: Marseille 2 (Florian Maurice 2) drew Nancy 2 (Tony Cascarino); Monaco 4 bt Le Havre 1; Bastia 3 bt Lyon 0