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Spotlight hogs Beckham, Rivaldo, Batistuta seek European success
Posted: Tuesday November 23, 1999 10:50 AM
LONDON (AP) -- Imagine: A Champions Cup without George Weah, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. The last three winners of the FIFA world player of the year award are forced to sit out Europe's most prestigious club competition because their clubs -- Inter, AC Milan and Juventus -- have been eliminated. That means a big chance for David Beckham, Rivaldo and Gabriel Batistuta to hog the spotlight this week and push their claims to be this year's FIFA award winner. Zidane, scorer of two goals in France's 3-0 World Cup final triumph over Brazil this year, believes Beckham could be his successor as player of the year. "I don't deserve it again," the Frenchman said. "I am thinking of Christian Vieri at Inter Milan, Barcelona's Luis Figo and Rivaldo but, above all, Beckham. He has won everything. His team has won everything." Beckham's Manchester United, Rivaldo's Barcelona and Batistuta's Fiorentina go into action in this week's second round of Champions League games, with defending titlist United going to Florence on Tuesday for a Group 3 game. In terms of league form, the two are far apart with Alex Ferguson's team top of the Premier League and Fiorentina languishing 11th in Serie A despite Saturday's 1-0 victory over mediocre Perugia. United is pretty much at full strength with Gary Neville and Nicky Butt back from long-term injuries and Beckham, Paul Scholes, Andy Cole and Roy Keane in standout form. By contrast Fiorentina has Yugoslav striker Pedrag Mijatovic out for up to three months because of a heel injury and fellow forward Enrico Chiesa doubtful because of a leg muscle problem that has kept him out for three weeks. That heaps more pressure on the shoulders of Batistuta but this is just the situation he thrives on. It was his winner at Wembley that gave Fiorentina a 1-0 win at Wembley that ousted another English club, Arsenal, in the previous round. Although the second round is another series of group games starting this week and ending March 22, a victory for the Florence club on Tuesday would be a major boost for Giovanni Trapattoni's team and a bad start for Ferguson's. The other Group 3 match on Tuesday is Valencia against Bordeaux with the Spanish team jubilant after Saturday's 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the domestic league. After that loss -- the third in a row in the Primera Liga -- Barcelona's stars must pick themselves up for a Group 1 visit to struggling Hertha Berlin on Tuesday. "We have to regain our prestige and the Champions League is the best place to do it," said Barca's Dutch goalkeeper, Ruud Hesp. Hertha, which gained a place in the competition by finishing third in the Bundesliga, is 13th this season and is in fear of relegation. Sparta Prague hosts FC Porto in Tuesday's other Group 1 game. Olympique Marseille and Lazio go into Wednesday's game with both clubs in turmoil after embarrassing domestic losses at the weekend. Lazio is clinging onto top spot in Serie A after losing 4-1 to neighbor AS Roma on Sunday, all four Roma goals coming in the first 31 minutes. "Not even our junior team would have given up four goals like that," Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti said after seeing his team's 23-game unbeaten run come to a humiliating end. "No one escapes blame, not the coach, not a single player. This was not the real Lazio. "For now I won't make any moves," Cragnotti said. "But I will go to Marseille to speak with the entire squad." Marseille is down in ninth place in the French league with thousands of fans calling for the sacking of coach Rolland Courbis after Saturday's 1-0 loss at home to Auxerre. Some 50,000 fans at the Stade Velodrome will want a better result against the Italian league leaders. Chelsea and Feyenoord, which meet at Stamford Bridge in the other Group 4 game, also are struggling to find form in domestic games. Gianluca Vialli's Chelsea has slipped to ninth in the Premier League and needed a last minute strike by Tore Andre Flo for a 1-1 tie at Everton on Saturday. The team has an abundance of talent, with World Cup winners Marcel Desailly, Frank Leboeuf and Didier Deschamps on the lineup along with Flo and veteran Italian forward Gianfranco Zola but can't produce its best form in the league. Feyenoord is 10th in the 18-team Dutch league after only five wins in 12 games and is 12 points behind pacesetters Ajax and 11 behind PSV Eindhoven. Seven-time titlist Real Madrid, which fired coach John Toshack last week and is yet to appoint a replacement, goes to the Ukraine on Wednesday to meet Dynamo Kiev while Norway's Rosenborg hosts Bayern Munich in Group 2. Bayern, last season's runner up to Manchester United, has five key players missing including 38-year-old sweper Lothar Matthaeus, Brazilian forward Giovane Elber and French World Cup star Bixente Lizarazu, all injured, and Jens Jeremies, suspended.
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