It was scarcely the most convincing of performances but a 1-1 draw at Hamburg proved enough on Saturday to give Bayern Munich their third successive Bundesliga title and send them to Milan for this Wednesday's Champions League final intent on completing the double they missed out on two years ago.

With only four minutes of injury time remaining, Bayern had looked set to have the title stolen from under their noses by Schalke 04 after falling behind in a game they needed something from but a Stefan Effenberg free in the 94th minute was turned home by Swedish defender Patrik Andersson to ensure they kept their onepoint advantage at the top of the table.

There was disappointing news for the Germans afterwards, though, when coach Ottmar Hitzfeld confirmed defensive midfielder Jens Jeremies would miss this week's game against Valencia after failing to recover from the knee operation he underwent last month.

The absence of the 27-year-old represents a considerable setback to his manager although the blow will have been partly softened by the performance of Effenberg, again his side's pivotal figure.

Effenberg's continued excellence has served to further enhance the reputation of his coach. Hitzfeld sparked a bitter row within the club when he arrived three years ago by announcing the then Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder was the first player he wanted to sign. Three years on nobody would question the club's return on their £3 million investment.

At the time, though, the reservations held by senior figures within the club were understandable. Effenberg's previous spell there - at the start of the '90s - had not gone well, with the outspoken youngster showing considerable promise on the pitch but giving early hints off it his temperament would make him difficult to deal with.

At one point he invited the club's coach, Jupp Heynckes, outside, so they could settle their differences and so, despite performing strongly enough to earn a place in the German team that lost to the Danes in the final of Euro'92, few were sorry to see him leave that summer.

Things didn't go any better for the powerfully-built midfielder during his one spell outside Germany, at Fiorentina between '92 and '94, or after his return for that matter, with a series of very public spats involving coaches, fellow players and, occasionally, supporters ensuring he remained just about the most divisive player in the German game.

His claim to the title was pretty much wrapped up at USA '94 where his already difficult relationship with fans of the national team completely nosedived. Long the object of a favourite chant from the stands that translated roughly as "Effe, you arsehole", Effenberg's early departure during the game against South Korea prompted an enthusiastic chorus from the German end of the ground to which the player reacted by flashing a solitary finger in their direction.

The next day he was sent home and announced his retirement from the international game. With the exception of a brief run of games in 1998 when he was coaxed back to shore a team in rapid decline he has not been back since.

Many close to him insist that behind the public front he can be a charming character and he is clearly devoted to his wife (who is also his agent) and their family. Controversy, though, has continued to dog him.

In 1997 he was accused of beating up a man outside his home and a year later he was arrested for drink driving. Then last October he was questioned by police after an incident in a restaurant during which he was alleged to have struck a woman who had taken a table he believed was his. She threw a glass of champagne over the him and he, the story went, reacted Prescott style.

Under Hitzfeld at Bayern, though, he has re-established his reputation as one of the finest footballers of his generation. The former maths teacher knew he was taking a gamble on the player but showed the strength of his belief in Effenberg when he agreed to make him Germany's best paid player by giving him the equivalent of £100,000 sterling a week.

After his first year back at the club, the coach clearly believed his faith had been repaid, observing he had outperformed Zinedine Zidane that season to establish himself as the best footballer on the Continent. "He is," said Hitzfeld, "technically perfect and in certain situations he can pass like nobody else". In return, Effenberg has described Hitzfeld as the greatest coach he has worked with.

He says now the defeat by Manchester United in the Champions League decider two years ago was the greatest disappointment of his career. "In 1992, Denmark were the better team on the day but against Manchester it was totally different," he remarked recently. "We were the better team - and yet we lost in a manner that stripped us of our dignity." The fact his missed penalty two weeks later cost Bayern the German cup would hardly have done anything to improve his humour on that summer's Effenberg family holiday.

Last month, the Germans repaired some of the psychological damage done that night when they eliminated United from the competition but for Effenberg and many of the others present that night in Barcelona, one suspects, the healing process will only be completed by a favourable result at the San Siro this week.