Bayern, Wolfsburg pressure Hertha

Bayern Munich beat Karlsruhe 1-0 to close the gap behind league leaders Hertha Berlin, who were humbled in Stuttgart, although they were without injured strikers Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose. Bayern welcomed back Franck Ribery, who had been suffering with a shin injury, and the French midfield maestro made his mark in the 34th minute when he split the Karlsruhe defence to set up Argentina striker Jose Ernesto Sosa.

Sosa was partnering Lukas Podolski up front for Bayern, with both Toni and Klose suffering from ankle injuries. He took his chance by darting through the penalty area to drill Ribery's pass under Karlsruhe goalkeeper Markus Miller. Bayern had Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto to thank for the three points in the dying seconds, as he deflected an effort from Karlsruhe's Michael Mutzel over the bar.

Karlsruhe stay bottom, while the win keeps Bayern second, but just one point behind Hertha who were brought crashing down to earth after hosts Stuttgart scored two goals in four minutes to continue their rise up the table to sixth. Brazilian striker Cacau scored just two minutes after the break to put the hosts ahead before a header from Germany Under-21 midfielder Sami Khedira to double the lead on 51 minutes.

Third-placed Wolfsburg are also just a point behind Hertha after they won 3-0 at Arminia Bielefeld. Brazil striker Grafite netted in the 58th minute to become the league's joint top-scorer with 18 goals in 16 games, level with Hoffenheim's injured striker Vedad Ibisevic. With fourth-placed Hamburg in action against Schalke on 22 March, Hoffenheim dropped further back in the title race as their 2-2 draw at Hannover left them five points off the leaders in fifth.

Bayer Leverkusen are seventh after their 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt. Although they hammered Stuttgart 4-0 the week before, Werder Bremen continue their erratic season as Borussia Dortmund captain Alexander Frei slotted home a 61st-minute penalty to take the three points as his side are ninth, with Bremen tenth in the table. Cologne remain in mid-table after their 2-0 win at second-from-bottom Energie Cottbus, while Borussia Moenchengladbach remain in the bottom three as they lost 1-0 on 20 March at home to fellow strugglers Bochum.

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Klinsmann satisfied as Bayern close gap

Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann was pleased the defending champions ground out a 1-0 win over Karlsruhe to narrow the gap on leaders Hertha Berlin to just a point. "The three points were what mattered," said Klinsmann, in spite of his side's average performance, as a single first-half strike from Argentina striker Jose Sosa gave Bayern the three points. With leaders Hertha Berlin losing 2-0 in Stuttgart, both Bayern and third-placed Wolfsburg are now only a point off the top, but Munich's performance at their Allianz Arena against rock-bottom Karlsruhe was far from impressive.

"We've won the way Hertha have won seven or eight times this season, which is OK from time to time," added Klinsmann. "Especially in the second half, it didn't go the way we wanted it to. We were too hurried, Karlsruhe fought back and made chances.

"We failed to wrap it up in the first half. Nevertheless, we're satisfied enough," he said. "It's good we're only a point behind Berlin. The players are allowed an occasional off day."

With Bayern facing Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals next month, captain Mark van Bommel was also demanding more from his side. "There's nothing much to say. We played badly, but won," said Bayern's Dutch captain, who signed a year's extension to his contract in midweek.

"It was OK to start with and we scored the goal. But otherwise, we're all aware it wasn't great," van Bommel said. "At this stage of the season, these are the games you have to win, and we've gone out and won. There are three points at stake, we've taken them, and that's all that matters."

League leaders Hertha Berlin let their four-point lead slip to just a single point as they were beaten 2-0 at Stuttgart. "It was a very good game," said Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel. "The team responded well to the 4-0 defeat by Werder Bremen the week before and rose to the challenge. They corrected a lot of mistakes and I am very happy."

With both Bayern and third-placed Wolfsburg hard on his side's heels, Hertha coach Lucien Favre was critical of his side's performance after losing captain Arne Friedrich with a first-half thigh injury.

"Stuttgart were clearly better," said the Swiss coach. "We saw two different teams, one played very well, the other one badly. If the team doesn't function properly, you will concede goals. We had a bad game and sometimes you have to accept that as a coach."

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Schalke sack Rutten

German side Schalke 04 said that thay had parted company with their Dutch coach Fred Rutten. Mike Buskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck, all members of the club's backroom staff, will take charge of training.

Earlier Thursday, the 46-year-old Rutten said he had expected to leave the struggling Bundesliga side at the end of the season.

Rutten had a contract with Schalke until 2010 having only taken over as trainer of the Royal Blues in July 2008, but the club are eighth in the table and have been blighted by erratic form this season.

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Ancelotti: Milan need two signings

AC Milan only need two good close-season signings to be back at their best, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.

Ancelotti is under pressure with his side trailing Serie A leaders Inter Milan by 14 points in third place and effectively out of the title race. Last season Milan finished fifth and failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. They were favourites to win the UEFA Cup this year but lost in the round of 32 to Werder Bremen.

However, Ancelotti, whose contract runs until 2010, is confident it will not take much to turn things around. "With two well-chosen buys we'll be competitive again," he told the club website, "...a central defender and a striker because that department should be reinforced."

Next season Milan's back line will be without inspirational 40-year-old captain Paolo Maldini, who plans to retire in May. Ancelotti said there was no way he would leave Milan if they qualified for the Champions League group stage by coming third.

He also denied media reports he lunched with Florentino Perez recently to discuss taking over at Real Madrid next term if Perez is re-elected president of the Spanish champions. "There is no truth in it," he said, before quipping "and anyway the first course was cannelloni and no one wrote that".

Ancelotti, Serie A's longest serving coach having been appointed in 2001, led Milan to Champions League triumphs in 2003 and 2007 but has captured only one league title - in 2004.

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Unhappy Allianz in Munich

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has slammed city rivals 1860 Munich for considering moving their home games away from the Allianz Arena.

The second division side this week set up a task force to examine the possibility of moving out of the 69,000-capacity arena and into a smaller home in the city.

However, Rummenigge claims that by doing so they would be breaching a contract with Bayern to act as tenants in the stadium until 2025.

By moving back to the Olympic Stadium, or even to the smaller Grunwalder Stadion in the city, Rummenigge believes they stand to gain very little and lose a lot.

"I have got to say, quite honestly and openly, that it is like in any rental agreement - if the tenant wants to move out of the flat, or in this case the stadium, then there are damages to pay," Rummenigge told the city's Tz newspaper.

"If 1860 Munich think they can simply move out without any consequences, then they are very naive."

Bayern have already bailed out their city rivals once by buying their joint share in the stadium venture last year.

As a result, the Lions have to pay rent to remain at the Arena and Rummenigge claims he will not be making any compromises.

"We have already accommodated them in a big way and our willingness to talk is exhausted," he added.

"We learned about all this from the newspaper, which is also typical 1860 style.

"We are used to it."

Unless 1860 can return to the top flight of German football in the near future, they are facing serious financial problems.

They were relegated to the second division in 2005 and have struggled to bounce back. They are currently 11 points adrift of the promotion berths with nine games of the season remaining.

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Enke Out to Prove He's No 1

Robert Enke will start Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein in Leipzig determined to prove he deserves to be Germany's number one.

The Hannover stopper's bid to be Jens Lehmann's permanent successor has been hampered by a broken hand, which has allowed the likes of Bayer Leverkusen's Rene Adler and Tim Wiese from Werder Bremen to stake their claims.

Adler, though, is himself missing this weekend with an elbow injury, and 31-year-old Enke is determined to show he is the best option for coach Joachim Low.

"I know that there will be a rush for the number one spot," he said. "I accept the competition and hope that I can continue the way I was going before my injury."

And he joked: "I am definitely the right man because as I have read I am the only national goalkeeper who up till now has not conceded a goal against Liechtenstein."

Enke played in Germany's 6-0 victory in Vaduz in September, one of only four caps he has won.

Germany certainly have nothing like the experience among their goalkeepers that they had when Oliver Kahn and Lehmann were competing, and goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke insists Enke cannot yet call himself first choice.

"We are still not set on a number one," he said. "We will not wait for the World Cup to make the decision, but we will also not put ourselves under pressure."

Kopke explained Enke's club form had earned him the start tomorrow, saying: "Despite the difficult situation at his club, he has always performed."

Germany go into the match four points clear at the top of Group Four, although second-placed Russia have a game in hand.

Tomorrow's opponents are bottom of the table and Mario Gomez hopes the game will give him the chance to bag his first international goal in a year.

Injury to Miroslav Klose means the Stuttgart striker will play from the start, probably alongside Lukas Podolski, as he looks to add to his six international goals.

He said: "I hope I can justify the faith of the coach and want to deliver a good performance. I always have my chances in the national team, but have unfortunately not scored the goals. But I have enough self-belief to know that I will score my goals if I am fit."

Defender Per Mertesacker should be fit to play, but striker Stefan Kiessling (knee) is a doubt and midfielder Piotr Trochowski (knee) is definitely out.

Adler will also miss the qualifier against Wales in Cardiff next week.

Liechtenstein have improved since their thrashing at home to Germany, drawing away to Azerbaijan and frustrating Wales for long periods before eventually losing 2-0.

They have still to score in goal in the group, and are hampered by injury and suspension this weekend, but defender Marco Ritzberger insists morale is high.

He told the Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper: "It has long been known that we have to battle with some suspended and injured players.

"In spite of this we want to do our best, especially as we have a large squad and chances for other players can present themselves."

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Kahn: Schalke Came Too Eearly

Oliver Kahn has turned down the chance to become general manager at Schalke.

The former Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper had been tipped to become the successor to Andreas Muller, who left the club earlier this month.

He had held talks with Schalke chairman Clemens Tonnies, but has now revealed it was not the right time to take up the position.

He told Kicker magazine: "I would have loved to have done it, but the offer came six months too early."

Tonnies added in Bild: "At this time it is not happening. But it is not a big issue, it doesn't cause us problems."

Former Germany coach Rudi Voller, currently director of sport at Bayer Leverkusen, has reportedly emerged as another possible candidate, although Leverkusen have denied this.

Schalke are not only looking for a new manager, but also a new coach following the sacking of Fred Rutten.

President Josef Schnusenberg said an interim coach was now likely to be installed for the remaining nine games of the season. The training staff of Mike Buskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck are in temporary charge at the moment.

"We haven't made a definite decision about it yet," Schnusenberg told the club's official website, www.schalke04.de.

"An interim solution with a new coach for the remaining nine games is by all means a consideration.

"We now have the required time thanks to the international break. You need to give us that. But a possible interim coach will definitely work with Mike, Youri and Oliver."

Schnusenberg revealed the 2-1 home defeat by Hamburg last weekend had sealed Rutten's fate.

"The game against HSV was a critical match for us, but there should not have been a knee-jerk reaction." he said. "We wanted to take time over such an important question and that's what we did.

"You have to see that in this season we have largely missed all of our sporting goals. Then doubts of course arise as to whether a continued partnership makes sense and brings success. Fred Rutten lacked luck."

Dutchman Rutten has been linked with the PSV Eindhoven hotseat, but Schnusenberg insisted Schalke never received an approach from the Eredivisie outfit.

"No one contacted us," he said. "We were always honest and open with the coach and of course expect the same in return."

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