Italian nightmare continues for Germany

Italy is a dangerous place for German football at the moment as Bayern Munich found out on Wednesday when they lost 4-1 to Milan at the San Siro to disappear from the Champions League.

Werder Bremen had lost 2-1 to Juventus in Turin the previous day to exit the showcase competition and last week, Germany were outclassed 4-1 by Italy in a friendly international in Florence.

The fact that Germany and Bayern lost by exactly the same score inspired several headlines in the German media.

Soccer magazine Kicker went for 'Disaster II' and 'Ciao Bundesliga', to make clear there would be no German presence in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

'Bayern as bad as Klinsi' was mass-selling daily Bild's choice in a reference to under-fire Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann.

Bayern, who found themselves 2-0 down after 25 minutes, picked themselves up to reduce the arrears and were fighting to level the match at 2-2 when Filippo Inzaghi's second goal of the night caught them off guard early in the second half.

Milan's other outstanding player, Brazilian midfielder Kaka, then wrapped it up to send Milan through 5-2 on aggregate.

"It was a sad night," Bayern coach Felix Magath told reporters after the game.

"Conceding an early goal was exactly what we wanted to avoid. That goal was offside and several other decisions went against us but a strong team should be able to win even when the refereeing does not help."

Bayern now have no option but to chase yet another domestic League and Cup double. They are eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

"We were so disappointed in the locker room that nobody said a word," said Bayern's French defender Valerien Ismael.

"We had our chances but we were too nervous in the opening stages.

"When you make a mistake against Milan, they make you pay for it straight away."

More bad news could soon follow for Bayern with their best player, Michael Ballack, now expected to confirm that he will leave the club at the end of the season.

Ballack's agent said last week that the Germany midfielder was very interested in a move to Chelsea.