Nicola Mira in Brescia looks at a weekend of stalemates in Serie A. ON THE first summery afternoon of the season, Juve chilled out after the heat of this week's controversy with a goalless draw at Vicenza. The only agony came from the lack of excitement, both teams careful to preserve the status quo as a loss would have been far heavier than a win for both. Meanwhile Inter tried their best but failed to overcome Piacenza in the first 0-0 of their sensational season: they were denied twice by the post and at least six times by outstanding saves by Piacenza keeper Sereni. As a result they still trail Juve by four points with only two games to go. Behind the leading pair, Udinese, Parma and Roma are sure of a place in the UEFA Cup, one more berth going to a fourth team (Fiorentina or Sampdoria, with Bologna rank outsider) if Lazio choose the Cup-Winners' Cup next season. Lazio's league form has been disheartening after their home loss to Juve: yesterday they played at Lecce with only 5 regular starters and lost 1-0, wasting a penalty in the 91st minute. They were heavy-footed after the Coppa Italia triumph, and light-headed thinking about next Wednesday's UEFA Cup final against Inter in Paris. Most of the other Euro contenders won. Roma annihilating Milan 5-0 (where there are rumours about Capello resigning). Oliver Bierhoff kept up his (top-scorer) title quest, scoring twice to help Udinese beat Napoli 3-1 away and overtake Lazio in third place. Fiorentina crushed Brescia 5-1, presumably consigning them to Serie B for next season, while Sampdoria are well on their way to a miraculous resurrection. Not so long ago the Genoese side went through a spell of eight consecutive defeats, but by drawing 2-2 at Parma and they remained in eighth. Well done to manager Vujadin Boskov. At the bottom of the table, bad news for Bari, beaten 2-0 by Atalanta, who are now only two points behind fifth-from-bottom Piacenza. Empoli staged a remarkable comeback from 0-2 down in Bologna, equalising with a 92nd minute penalty and are on the brink of safety. There are only 180 minutes left to play: a win next Sunday, or Inter not winning, will earn Juve their 25th Serie A title. They will play at home against Bologna, a spicy confrontation: Bologna can still hope to clinch a place in the Intertoto tournament, and leading them there will be one redoubtable ex-Juve player, Roberto Baggio (on target again today), powerfully motivated to ruin Juve's title party. Inter on the other hand face near-desperate Bari away. It looks uphill, but Inter have shown all season that they can always pull something from the hat. Will they do it? HERO OF THE DAY Sgr Cesari, the Genova-born referee who, together with linesmen Contente and Garofalo, had the dubious honour to oversee play between Vicenza and Juve. After a week when questions have been asked in parliament about referees' treatment, they had a great responsibility. He was greatly helped by both teams' determination to avoid risks, but he handled the game with smooth, almost self-effacing ease, and the whole of the footballing establishment no doubt let out a sigh of collective relief. GOAL OF THE DAY Uruguayan Fernando Magallanes, whose brilliant left-footed effort from outside the area delivered the knock-out blow for Atalanta against Bari; not only a beauty, but a mighty important asset in the relegation fight. RESULTS Lecce 1 Lazio 0 Atalanta 2 Bari 0 Bologna 2 Empoli 2 Fiorentina 5 Brescia 1 Inter 0 Piacenza 0 Napoli 1 Udinese 3 Parma 2 Sampdoria 2 Roma 5 Milan 0 Vicenza 0 Juventus 0 LEADING POSITIONS 1 Juventus 70pts 2 Inter: 66pts 3 Udinese 58pts 4 Parma 56pts 5 Lazio 56pts

KAISERSLAUTERN WIN BUNDESLIGA   Gavin Hamilton reports on a remarkable triumph. KAISERSLAUTERN crowned a remarkable first season back in the German top flight when they clinched the Bundesliga title with a 4-0 victory over Wolfsburg. With one match remaining Kaiserlautern are now four points clear and cannot be caught by Bayern Munich, who drew 0-0 at Duisburg. They are the first newly-promoted team to win the Bundesliga since the league was launched in 1963. For coach Otto Rehhagel, the title triumph was particularly sweet. He joined Kaiserlautern in July 1996 after he was sacked by Bayern Munich. Kaiserlautern had been relegated and were in a sorry state.Rehhagel quickly turned things around. He not only took Kaiserslautern back to the top flight but he also turned them into a title-chasing outfit who started their 1997-98 Bundesliga campaign with a shock 1-0 win at Bayern and have led from the front all season. "What has happened to us is miraculous, it's a football fairytale," Rehhagel said after a masterful performance from his team against Wolfsburg, who were crushed 4-0 with goals from Marschall (two), Wagner and Rische. The coach paid tribute to Kaiserlautern's fans. "They have been closely behind us all season and have given us a lot of confidence," he said. "Now they can go on holidays and wherever they are, they will say 'I'm from Kaiserslautern' and they will say that with pride." Rehhagel also thanked veterans Miroslav Kadlec, the only remaining player from Kaiserslautern's last title win in 1991, and Andreas Brehme, who the coach said could play in any position he wanted in next week's match against Hamburg. Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Koln lost 2-1 at bottom club Arminia Bielefeld and seem set to be relegated for the first time in their history. Arminia's win was not enough to keep them up. They were condemned to the drop by Monchengladbach's 5-2 win over Hansa Rostock and Karlsruhe's 4-2 victory against Stuttgart. RESULTS Kaiserslautern 4 Wolfsburg 0 Karlsruhe 4 Stuttgart 2 Werder Bremen 1 Bochum 0 Munich 1860 1 Schalke 0 Arminia Bielefeld 2 Koln 1 Bayer Leverkusen 0 Hertha Berlin 1 Duisburg 0 Bayern Munich 0 Borussia Dortmund 0 Hamburg 1 Borussia Monchengladbach 5 Hansa Rostock 2 LEADING POSITIONS 1 Kaiserslautern 67pts 2 Bayern Munich 63pts 3 Bayer Leverkusen 54pts 4 Werder Bremen 50pts 5 Stuttgart 49pts

top