A SEASON of unexpected agony came to end for Marcello Lippi last night as he quit as coach of Italian champions Juventus just minutes after his team suffered a 4-2 home defeat to Parma.
Lippi, who had announced before Christmas that he would be leaving at the end of the season upon the completion of his five-year contract, said after the defeat that resigning would solve ''the Lippi problem'' at the club.
A hat-trick by Hernan Crespo, as well as a goal by Enrico Chiesa, steered Parma to victory and third place in the table, Alessio Tacchinardi and Daniel Fonseca netting the consolations as Juve slipped to ninth.
Lippi said: ''If I am the squad's problem, then I resign. Let's see if this team can get going if it no longer has Lippi. I tried everything possible to wake the team up.''
Fiorentina's lead at the top of Serie A was slashed to a single point after they drew 0-0 with AC Milan and record-breaking Lazio beat Perugia 3-0. Fiorentina, who had won all 10 previous home matches this season, applied the early pressure, but Milan recovered their poise and Liberian striker George Weah hit the post in the nineteenth minute.
Neither side could find the winner and Fiorentina's disappointment was doubled as captain Gabriel Batistuta, Serie A's top scorer, suffered a late injury to his left knee. However, initial fears that the Fiorentina captain had snapped ligaments in his left knee were dismissed.
Christian Vieri and strike partner Marcelo Salas got the goals as Lazio set a new club record of nine consecutive wins. Vieri opened the scoring after 42 minutes from close range and then provided the pass in a one-two that Salas finished for Lazio's second in first-half injury-time before the Chilean added the third.
Frenchman Youri Djorkaeff bagged a hat trick as Ronaldo-less Inter-Milan kept up their stunning home scoring record by thumping Empoli 5-1. Roberto Baggio and Argentinian Diego Simeone scored Inter's other goals.
The win maintained a remarkable five-goals-a-game scoring record that has seen Inter hit the target 25 times in their last five matches at San Siro.
Sampdoria, playing their first match since the resignation of David Platt, finished with nine men on the field - after Marco Franceschetti was sent off after 73 minutes and Argentinian Ariel Ortega got his marching orders in injury-time - but managed a 0-0 draw with Cagliari.
In Spain, a goal in the dying minutes from Patrick Kluivert gave Barcelona a 2-1 win at Extre-madura and kept them three points clear of Celta Vigo, Real Madrid, and Valencia.
qFranz Beckenbauer yesterday branded Germany a ''bunch of journeymen'' after Saturday's 3-0 defeat by the United States.
The man who skippered West Germany to World Cup victory in 1974 and coached them to another triumph in 1990 said: ''There are too many mediocre players in this team, they are journeymen. Where have all the talented players gone?''
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