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.

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Dear WSC
Richard Darn’s status as WSC’s “Barnsley correspondent” should be thrown into disrepute after his disgraceful defence of Gary Willard. Comments along the lines of “referees are honest men doing a tough job” are Brooking-esque in their blandness and naivety. The question Darn fails to ask is: why do these “innocent errors” never happen to Man Utd at Old Trafford or, indeed, any big club facing small fry on their home turf? Furthermore, why did Willard not err on the side of caution (play it safe with a yellow card if in doubt rather than red) instead of his reckless, irresponsible attitude of “send him off and sod the consequences”. Darn is probably correct to scoff at “conspiracy theories” but he should at least acknowledge the possibility of unconscious bias towards big clubs by referees who are fearful that they may lose their jobs if they upset the FA hierarchy by penalising their golden boys or favouring the inconvenient small clubs who belong in the Nationwide. I don’t believe Gary Willard is corrupt but I do believe he lost the plot on March 28th because he knew Big Brother was watching him.
Jon Harrison, York

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Dear WSC
Villa Park, Tuesday March 17th. Villa v Atletico Madrid, UEFA Cup quarter final 2nd leg. After half an hour, Bosnich lies down behind a couple of defenders and Caminero makes it 2-0 on aggregate. The new electronic scoreboards stop urging us to get behind the team, and instead inform us that home shirts are now available in the club shop at 50 per cent off… Dark, dark humour indeed.
Bruce Smith, via email

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France may not have a reliable striker going into their own World Cup, but Cris Freddi indicates how history suggests that they need not worry yet

Just like old times. As in the days of Platini & Co, France score their share of goals from midfield (Djorkaeff 15 at a rate of one every two games) but can’t find someone to do the job up front. Christophe Dugarry’s scored twice in twenty matches, Patrice Loko’s suffered his second nervous breakdown in three years, and the search seems to be getting desperate. Stéphane Guivarc’h scored an equaliser on his debut but that was back in October; Bernard Diomède’s a surprise choice, David Trezeguet only twenty, Everton’s Mickael Madar good in parts. There’s even been talk of recalling Papin, who’s 34.

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He may have excellent shot-stopping ability, but Robert Fordham wonders if David James' occasional moments of madness have cost him his place at Liverpool

So, farewell David James. Consigned to the subs’ bench after over 200 consecutive appearances for Liverpool, and at a time when papers were still writing about you as an outside England contender, given the injuries to Walker and Seaman. A tale that begs a question: how on earth did the archetypal "dodgy keeper" last so long?

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