Juergen Klinsmann, feeling the heat early in his first season as Bayern Munich coach. After the club’s worst domestic start in 31 years, will be hoping for a return to form against Lyon in the Champions League.

After two straight losses, one a 5-2 thrashing at home by Werder Bremen, the German champions are in ninth place in Germany’s top division.

Seeking to rest key players ahead of Tuesday’s game against Lyon, Klinsmann dropped several starters for the match at Hannover on Saturday, but the move backfired when Bayern lost 1-0.

Ze Roberto, Lucio and Bastian Schweinsteiger were among the usual starters who were left out and Bayern produced a pale, uninspired performance.

“We showed no creativity, no ideas, nothing unexpected,” Klinsmann said.

Klinsmann called his players for what appears to have been a stormy meeting after the game in Hannover, but he declined to give details.

“It’s normal that after a game like that clear and perhaps also loud words are used,” Klinsmann said.

There is little tolerance for failure at Bayern, but club president Franz Beckenbauer stopped short of criticizing Klinsmann’s rotation.

“I don’t think such criticism would be justified,” Beckenbauer said.

Even Franck Ribery, making his second appearance since recovering from an ankle injury, could not turn things around for Bayern when he came on at the start of the second half.

“If we play like that against Lyon, we’ve got no chance,” Ribery said.

Lyon will not be intimidated, having lost only one of four previous Champions League games against Bayern.

Bayern won its opening game at Steaua Bucharest 1-0, but general manager Uli Hoeness said the team had to be successful both in domestic and international competitions.

“We don’t want to see two faces of Bayern,” Hoeness said.

If Ribery plays, it will be his first Champions League match against French opposition.

“All the eyes (in France) will be on me,” Ribery said. “I feel good, but against Lyon I’d play with a broken leg.”

But Klinsmann refused to commit on giving Ribery his debut from the start.

“Everyone will have to be patient until game time,” he said.

Bayern will have to figure out how to stop Lyon’s striking partnership of Karim Benzema and Fred, with defender Christian Lell out with a thigh injury.

“Our goal is at least one point, but three would be good,” Benzema said.

Lyon drew 2-2 with Fiorentina in its Champions League opener.

Tottenham fans had every reason to think their team would contend this season. Few would have imagined that after six games their team would be last in the Premier League and off to its worst start in 53 years.

Manager Juande Ramos had strengthened his League Cup-winning squad with such players as Luka Modric, Giovani dos Santos and David Bentley.

Now, far from looking like a team capable of challenging the traditional top four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, Spurs are in crisis. They have but two points and can’t even keep up with Stoke, Bolton, Middlesbrough and Fulham. Even a League Cup victory at Newcastle hasn’t lifted the gloom.

Until Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth – a team that had conceded 10 goals without reply in its previous two games – Tottenham fans had kept faith with Ramos, the man who had guided Seville to two UEFA Cup triumphs.

But it was too much for some fans. They chanted “You don’t know what you’re doing” when Ramos removed the club’s latest big signing, Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, and replaced him with the uninspiring Darren Bent.

The fans clearly wanted two strikers on the field, especially with their team two goals down, and they have been puzzled by Ramos’ repeated, seemingly needless lineup changes from game to game. Nineteen different Spurs players have started so far this season.

The Tottenham followers see Aston Villa, a club which has the same ambition to break into the top four, third in the standings and Villa manager Martin O’Neill has started with the same 11 in every league game. The last time a Villa manager had this approach, the team won the English league in 1981 using only 14 players all season and followed that with the European Cup – now Champions League – a year later.

That’s the sort of achievement Spurs fans have been dreaming of for years. Right now it’s hard to see where their next league victory is coming from.

Spurs’ next game is at home to Hull City, the team that made it to the top tier for the first time in its 104-year history through the promotion playoffs last season.

While that would have seemed like an easy three points when the fans looked at the schedule at the start of the season, they will be glad of just one right now.

Hull has turned out to be no pushover and on Saturday scored a stunning 2-1 victory at Arsenal.

If Tottenham goes out of the UEFA Cup by losing at Wisla Krakow on Thursday and then tumbles to Hull, Ramos will be in far more trouble with the fans as well as the club’s owners.

“I speak with the chairman regularly and everybody is aware of our delicate position but we have to work hard together to change it,” Ramos said.

“There is another game on Thursday in a different competition and the players know they must recover quickly. Does it hurt when the fans say those things? No, it hurts only when we cannot win games.”

Ramos certainly needs to keep the Spurs fans behind him. He will have seen first hand the fiasco at Newcastle. The Magpies supporters have vented their fury at owner Mike Ashley for the team’s appalling play and left their stadium 60 percent empty for the League Cup meeting with Spurs.

“The fans need to understand that the first people who want to change the situation are the players, the management and all the people in the club,” Ramos said. “This is when we all need to work together. It’s a difficult time and we all hope to change the situation.”

It’s lucky for Ramos that the season is only six games old and he has 32 more to put things right.

“We have young players but players with quality and I have every confidence in the team. However, they are young, the pressure is on and it’s possible the confidence is low,” Ramos said. “I’m sure when we win two or three matches that situation will change.”

But Martin Jol thought the same thing this time last year, and look what happened to him.

He was fired after 10 games and replaced by Ramos.

Juventus will be looking to break out of its scoring slump. When it visits Champions League newcomer BATE Borisov in Belarus on Tuesday.

Juventus was held to a 0-0 draw by Sampdoria on Saturday and hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game since beating Slovakian side Artmedia 4-0 in Champions League qualifying on Aug. 13.

“We’ve made mistakes and we’ve paid for them,” Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini said. “But I think we’re on the right road and slowly but surely we’ll be able to win again. It’s not just the forwards fault. We’ve also got to dictate play better from behind.”

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will miss the game in Minsk with a thigh injury and striker David Trezeguet is out until at least January after surgery on both knees.

Finishing with 10 men, BATE put on a respectable performance in a 2-0 loss to nine-time champion Real Madrid in the club’s opening match of Group H.

Juventus and Madrid lead the group with three points each, while BATE and Zenit St. Petersburg have zero.

“Our match with Real Madrid was a good lesson for us,” BATE coach Viktor Goncharenko said Monday. “One cannot buy such experience and I hope we will feel more comfortable against Juventus.

“As in Madrid, we do not know what to expect from our opponents. We had never before played against such teams. But we are capable of challenging any team and we will try to get a positive result.”

BATE will be without defender Anri Khagush, who was sent off against Madrid, and injured team captain Aleksandr Ermakovic, who is out for the season with a knee injury.

But the Belarus side will have its strike duo of Gennady Bliznyuk and Vitaly Radionov back after both were suspended for the Madrid game.

“Blizhyuk and Radionov are our key strikers and we definitely missed them in Madrid,” Goncharenko said. “We are going to give Juventus a real fight and combat for every ball. We are really looking to play good football and take off points from Claudio Ranieri’s side.”

Juventus left Christian Poulsen off its roster for rest and fellow midfielder Cristiano Zanetti is still out injured.

With Trezeguet unavailable, Ranieri will likely rely on Alessandro Del Piero again after the captain scored from a free kick in Juve’s opening 1-0 win over Zenit. Newly signed Brazilian forward Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta are the other options in attack.

Amauri has scored three league goals since arriving from Palermo, while Iaquinta is scoreless upon his return from injury.

Italy under-21 standout Sebastian Giovinco could also provide a spark, having provided the cross that Amauri headed in during a 1-1 draw with Catania last week.

Juventus has drawn its last two matches.

“Facing teams like these takes away your desire to play,” said midfielder Mauro Camoranesi, who returned from injury in the scoreless draw at Sampdoria.

Juventus could also have a hard time getting motivated to play BATE, but the first team from Belarus in the competition has had some respectable results of late.

“BATE is very dangerous in counterattacks and we should be very careful tomorrow,” Ranieri said in Minsk through a translator. “Of 15 home matches there wasn’t a single one in which BATE has not scored a goal. We really respect Borisov.”

Besides its record 23-match unbeaten streak to start its domestic league, BATE remained unbeaten home and away through all three Champions League qualifying rounds – against Valur Reykjavik, Anderlecht and Levski Sofia.

“Considering the level of our opponent, a draw tomorrow will be a good result,” Goncharenko said. “But still we will strive for victory.”

Polish football faced its latest crisis Monday. After the national federation was suspended by its court-appointed chief for allegedly failing to tackle corruption in the domestic league.

The move raised further questions about Poland’s ability to co-host the 2012 European Championship with Ukraine.

The governing board of the Polish Football Federation was suspended after a ruling by the Poland Olympic Committee’s arbitration court. The court named Robert Zawlocki as temporary chief of the federation in response to a critical motion submitted by the Ministry of Sport.

Zawlocki, a lawyer who once worked for the federation’s disciplinary committee, announced he had suspended the current board and canceled elections for Oct. 30 to choose the federation’s new leadership.

The vote will take place once “order was restored” in the organization, Zawlocki said.

Minister of Sport Miroslaw Drzewiecki said that a probe into the federation’s functioning has found “numerous violations” of the general law and of the federation regulations.

He said the probe showed that the composition of the governing body was not in accordance with the regulations, while the board has also failed to keep its own promise to hold an extraordinary electoral convention and has failed to take efficient steps to fight corruption.

All these violations “prove an inability by the board to run the federation efficiently and to carry out their duties,” Drzewiecki said.

“Taking into consideration the scope and the nature of the violations … the minister was obliged to … move for a suspension” of the governing board and to ask for a temporary manager to be appointed, Drzewiecki said.

Suspended federation president Michal Listkiewicz said he was surprised by the decision.

“I don’t know what it’s all about,” he said, adding he had assurances from Drzewiecki that the organizing team preparing Euro 2012 “will not be affected by all this hubbub.”

But Zawlocki, the temporary manager, supported the negative assessment of the board’s performance.

“Legal chaos reigns in the federation right now, and it has to be brought into order,” Zawlocki said.

In 2007, then sports minister Tomasz Lipiec suspended the board and appointed an acting chief after accusing the federation’s leadership of failing to tackle corruption. FIFA harshly criticized that action, and refused to recognize the appointment.

There was no immediate reaction from FIFA to Monday’s decision and it was not immediately clear what impact Monday’s move might have on Poland’s right to co-host Euro 2012.

Zawlocki said he sent a letter to UEFA president Michel Platini “assuring him that the organization of the 2012 European Championship will continue without interruption,” PAP news agency reported.

Zawlocki said Platini had not yet replied.

Prosecutors in Wroclaw launched an investigation in 2005 into match-fixing in Polish football, and have charged about 120 people – including federation members, coaches, referees, players and club officials – with rigging matches in the top domestic leagues. Twenty-nine clubs have been implicated.

After public and political pressure, Listkiewicz announced in April that the governing board would resign and hold new elections this fall.

Also, police arrested 27 people in the western city of Szczecin after violent clashes between supporters of two first-division football teams.

Footage broadcast on Polish state television showed supporters of Wisla Plock scaling a fence to get into a section reserved for fans of host Flota Swinoujscie.

Coal Play ran off with the $70,000 Majestic Prince Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday. Scoring a 7 1/2 -length win on the final day of the tracks 100-day meet.
Trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Joe Bravo, the 3-year-old colt led for most of the race and covered the 1 1-16 miles on a muddy main track in 1:41.89. He returned $2.60 and $2.10 as the heavy favorite in the field of four.

Caves Valley, who battled Coal Play for most of the race before tiring in the stretch, held on for second and paid $5.20. Proud Kentuckian was five lengths back in third, while last-place finisher Vanderkaay was another 13 lengths behind.

The race helped culminate a successful meet for the track in Oceanport.

Racing officials reported significant gains in daily average handle this season, which featured record-setting appearances by Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown. After failing to win the Triple Crown, the 3-year-old made his racing comeback by winning the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 3, then returned on Sept. 13 to beat older horses on the turf in the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes.

The average daily handle this season was $3,274,800, which was 3.1 percent higher than the 2007 average of $3,177,212 during a 75-day meet.

Officials credited the increase to a 10.5 percent rise in simulcast betting on Monmouth races, which helped compensate for drops in onsite betting and attendance. Those declines were blamed on escalating fuel prices this summer and further development of the states off-track betting and account wagering system.

Average daily onsite wagering at Monmouth Park was off 29 percent this season, while track attendance fell by 27 percent.

Its safe to say the 2008 meet gave us some expected mixed results, (but) its encouraging that our daily handle showed such a large increase, said Dennis Robinson, president and CEO of the states Sports & Exposition Authority, which runs the track.

Noting that the OTB and account wagering systems are just in their infancy, Robinson said he was sure that as time goes by, their success will prove a wise investment for the racetracks, and, more importantly, a substantial revenue stream for the state.

Jose Lezcano won his first Monmouth riding crown, finishing with 141 victories, while Bruce Levine saddled 54 winners to claim the training title after finishing second for three straight years.

Curlin headed to Southern California on Sunday. To begin training on Santa Anita new synthetic surface in anticipation of a possible start in the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic next month.

The reigning Horse of the Year arrived without incident from New York in late afternoon and his first workout will be Wednesday, said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.

Owner Jess Jackson has said he first wants to test Curlin on the Pro-Ride surface before committing to run him against Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown and some of Europes top horses in the 1-mile Classic on Oct. 25.

Curlin won the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Saturday, earning $450,000 and making the 4-year-old the richest North American thoroughbred in history, with $10,246,800, passing Cigars 12-year-old record.

He came out of the race great, Asmussen said before leaving New York. What we decide will only matter according to how he is on that race track. Were going to California to work him and nothing past that.

Big Brown has already been committed to run in the Classic and will ship to California from New York a few days before the race.

Big Brown is doing good, trainer Rick Dutrow said from New York. I was happy to see what I saw yesterday with Curlin, and I cant wait to get out there and put him (Big Brown) in the gate. Were as excited as we can be.

Santa Anita officials hope Curlins training goes well so they can promote a matchup of Horse of the Year candidates.

I think the American public is focused on those two horses running against each other, said Sherwood Chillingworth, director of the tracks Oak Tree meeting. This would bring much-needed attention back to racing.

The Breeders Cup will be run for the first time on a synthetic track on Oct. 24-25.

Street Hero beat Midshipman by three-quarters of a length Sunday in the $250,000 Norfolk Stakes. And Hyperbaric won the $200,000 Oak Tree Mile, giving both horses automatic berths next month in the Breeders Cup at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Alex Solis, Street Hero covered 1 1-16 miles in 1:42.12 to earn a spot in the BC Juvenile. Midshipman survived a three-horse photo for second, while Believe in Hope was another nose back in third.

Regal Ransom, the 7-5 favorite who had shipped from the East Coast, was never a serious factor while fading to eighth. Silent Valor, another Eastern horse, was fifth.

Street Hero, owned, trained and bred in Kentucky by Myung Kwon Cho, won for the first time in five starts. The son of Street Cry ran with blinkers for the first time.

I can hardly talk, Im so excited, Cho said. Down the stretch, my heart was pumping. This is my biggest win, and Ive been training around 17 years. I think I have to go to the Breeders Cup. If I dont go, the riders going to kill me.

Street Hero paid $14.20, $6.40 and $4. Midshipman returned $4.40 and $3.20 and Believe in Hope paid $5.60 to show.

Trainer Bob Baffert said Midshipman, trying two turns for the first time, would run in the BC Juvenile.
He lost a lot of ground, but he got beat by a good horse and he learned a lot today, Baffert said.

In the Oak Tree Mile, jockey Garrett Gomez earned his 3,000th career victory aboard Hyperbaric, who beat Tybalt by a neck on the turf in 1:33.62.

Winning trainer Julio Canani was undecided about running the 5-year-old gelding in the BC Mile.

Winning the race is great, but having Garrett aboard for his 3,000th makes it even more special, he said. He rode him well the last three times and won twice, so he knows the horse.

Hyperbaric paid $5.20, $2.80 and $2.60. Tybalt returned $5.80 and $3.60, while Tropic Storm paid $4.40 to win.

Gomez, 36, overcame substance abuse problems to win last years Eclipse Award as the nations leading jockey.

Ive had some bumps in the road, and I think a milestone like this makes you reflect back and appreciate where you are, he said. Im a better person because of what Ive been through. As long as I keep winning, I hope to get to 4,000 pretty quick.

An 88-year-old thoroughbred trainer was fatally struck in the head by one of his horses before the start of a race.
John Wilson was unresponsive after he was hit and was taken by ambulance to Hamot Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Jennifer See, a spokeswoman for Presque Isle Downs and Casino, said Sunday.

Wilson is based out of a track in Fort Erie, Ontario. On Saturday night, he was readying 2-year-old gelding Forbidden Dreams for a stakes race, See said.

The horse reared up, and when it came back down it struck him in the head, she said.

Autopsy results were not immediately released.

Tam Lin, never worse than second at any point, pulled away to a 4-length win Sunday. In the $250,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park.

Javier Castellano was aboard for trainer Saeed bin Suroor as Tam Lin ran the one-mile in 1:39.13 on the soft course.

We expected to be four or five lengths behind the lead, but when we were right behind the leaders, I didnt want fight with him, Castellano said. I just let him enjoy the trip. I guess he really liked the course today.

The 5-year-old gelding earned $150,000 for Godolphin Stable with his sixth win in 16 starts. Tam Lin paid $6.90, $3.50 and $2.50. Stalingrad, the 2-1 favorite, got second and returned $3.30 and $2.40. Operation Red Dawn paid $2.40 to show.

Forefathers was fourth followed by Giant Wrecker and Media Play.

Curlin became the first horse in North America to top $10 million in career earnings. Winning the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at sloppy Belmont Park.

The $450,000 winners purse pushed Curlins career bankroll to $10,246,800. Cigar held the old mark of $9,999,815, which stood for 12 years.

Im sure this record will be broken someday, but it will take a hell of a horse to do it, winning jockey Robbie Albarado said.

The next $3 million could come with a victory in the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic on Oct. 25 Santa Anita. The Jockey Club Gold Cup was a Breeders Cup Challenge Win and Youre In race, insuring the winner a spot in the Classic and a much anticipated showdown with Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown.

Owner Jess Jackson, speaking from a charity wine auction in California, called the Classic the next prospect for us. We will give it every consideration that we can.

The upcoming Breeders Cup will be the first contested on a synthetic track. Jackson has reservations about running Curlin on the unfamiliar surface.

Its up to him, whether he likes the track, Jackson said. Those are concerns we still have, but we will consider it now that we are past this hurdle.

Curlin will ship to Santa Anita on Sunday to train over the racing strip.

In the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Curlin, the 2-5 favorite, beat Wanderin Boy by three-quarters of a length with Merchant Marine third.

As far back as sixth after a half mile, Curlin split rivals down the backstretch before swing three wide on the final turn. He took charge with a sudden burst turning for home as Albarado hand-rode him to the finish.

The defending Horse of the Year trained by Steve Asmusssen now has 11 wins in 15 starts.

The 4-year-old won the Jockey Club Gold Cup for a second straight year. His other major victories include the Preakness Stakes and the Breeders Cup Classic last year, the Dubai World Cup in March and the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga last month.

Curlin paid $2.80, $2.10 and $2.10. Wanderin Boy returned $4.20 and $3.70. Merchant Marine paid 5.70 to show.

Mambo in Seattle was fourth followed by Ravel, Stones River, A.P. Arrow and Angliana.

The time was 2:01.93 for the 1 miles.