ALEN BOKSIC was sent off on his return to Serie A after a two month lay off yesterday, but 10-man Juventus still held title rivals Inter Milan to a scoreless draw at the San Siro.
The result kept the league leaders on course for a record 24th league title, although - second placed Parma have cut their lead at the top to five points, having won 2-1 at Perugin earlier yesterday.
Croatian forward Boksic was dismissed in the 77th minute for striking Inter defender Massimo Paganin just 10 minutes after coming on as a second half substitute.
But the match had turned on another controversial incident in the seventh minute when Maurizio Ganz, clearly offside, was allowed to play on and beat Angelo Peruzzi at the second attempt. Referee Pierluigi Collina first pointed to the halfway line to signal a goal but then changed his mind, ruling out a goal.
"I've never seen anything like it in 45 years of football," said an angry Inter president - Massimo Moratti after the match.
In Spin, Barcelona failed to gain any breathing space in the fight for the country's second European Cup place despite a comfortable 3-0 win over struggling Compostela yesterday.
Third placed Real Betis stayed level on points with Barcelona after a thrilling 3-2 injury time victory over Atletico Madrid. Both teams trail Real Madrid by six points. The leaders play Racing Santander tonight.
In Germany, Bayern Munich chairman Franz Beckenbauer launched a fierce attack on his team after they suffered a calamitous 5-2 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen to lose vital ground in the title race.
"We are going to have to find another word for what we produced today because it wasn't football," the former World Cup winning coach and captain said. "There was no commitment there. We practically invited Leverkusen to score goals."
The crushing defeat of Bayern enabled reigning champions and European Cup quarter finalists Borussia Dortmund to finish the weekend top of the table, having won 2-1 at bottom club Freiburg on Saturday.
