July 2001 Sport News Headlines

HAMBURG - Bundesliga and European Champions League holders Bayern Munich renew their rivalry with former giants Borussia Moenchengladbach when the 39th Bundesliga season kicks off tomorrow.

Bayern are shooting for history this season as they attempt to become the first team to win four consecutive Bundesliga titles.

The 17-time league champs have failed on their two previous occasions to win number four - in 1975 and 1988.

The club that stopped them in 1975 is the team they face tomorrow, Moenchengladbach.

Bayern and Gladbach had a stronghold on German and European football in the 1970s with the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Mueller and Uli Hoenes for Bayern and Guenter Netzer, Berti Vogts and Jupp Heynckes for Gladbach.

During the decade, the two teams combined for eight Bundesliga titles (Bayern 3, Gladbach 5), two German Cup trophies (one each), three European Champions Cup crowns (all Bayern) and two Uefa Cup titles (both Gladbach).

Moenchengladbach won the first two Bundesliga titles of the 1970s before Bayern won three straight.

Gladbach then overtook the Munich side to win three consecutive of their own from 1975-77.

But while Bayern continued their supremacy of German football - winning six league titles in the 1980s and six more since 1990, Gladbach have fallen on harder times.

Moenchengladbach's only title after the 1979 Uefa Cup crown was the 1995 German Cup with current Bayern captain Stefan Effenberg in midfield.

But he bolted for Bayern in 1998 and his old team suffered their first relegation in team history a year later.

Now Moenchengladbach are back in the top flight after two years in the second division and coach Hans Meyer is ready to start up a new rivalry with Bayern.

Effenberg will be an interested party tomorrow at Boekelberg stadium as the 32-year-old playmaker has made no secret of his appreciation for Gladbach and has said he would consider a return there after most likely leaving Bayernafter the season.

"If I move elsewhere within the Bundesliga it will only be Moenchengladbach," said Effenberg, who played at Moenchengaldbach from 1986-1990 and 1994-1998.

Teams who have filled in for Gladbach as Bayern rivals are Borussia Dortmund (who open at home against promoted Nuremberg), Bayer Leverkusen (host Wolfsburg), Hertha Berlin (visit promoted St.

Pauli Hamburg) and Schalke.

The other opening-week ties have 1860 Munich welcoming Kaiserslautern, VfB Stuttgart hosting FC Cologne, SV Hamburg travelling to Energie Cottbus and SC Freiburg playing hosts to Werder Bremen. - Nampa-Sapa-DPA

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