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Stories

April 1998

Wednesday 1 The start of Real Madrid's Champions League semi with Borussia Dortmund is held up for seventy-five minutes after one of the goalposts is damaged by Real fans jumping on the adjacent perimeter fencing. Dortmund lose the match 2-0 but may lodge an official complaint with UEFA that could lead to the tie being replayed. In the other game, Juventus beat Monaco 4-1.

Thursday 2 Chelsea are lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat at Vicenza in the first leg of their Cup-Winners Cup semi final. "We can blame a bit of tiredness. You are never at your best five days after a cup final," says Gianluca loftily. Wembley Stadium has been bought by the English National Stadium Trust backed by the FA. Rebuilding work will start after the 1999 FA Cup Final and might even include proper toilets.

Power game

German politicians understand the importance of declaring an interest in football, though some are more sincere than others as Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger explains

Sometime in early May, Helmut Kohl walked into a cabinet meeting. As usual, he was the last to enter the room. Maybe this befits his position as party captain, maybe it is a superstition left over from his days as a footballer. ( He is said to have been a not entirely untalented midfielder when he was younger. And, presumably, slimmer). He looked like a man who had just heard the greatest joke of all time and yearns to share it with someone. He stopped dead in his tracks just as he was about to pass Seiters.