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Barca coach Rijkaard signs off in style
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 18 - 05 - 2008

It was a day of farewells for Barcelona on Saturday as coach Frank Rijkaard said an emotional goodbye after five years and his team gave him the perfect send-off with a 5-3 win at relegated Real Murcia.
Rijkaard won two league titles and the 2006 Champions League crown to etch his name in Barca's history books but he will now make way for reserve team coach Pep Guardiola after two seasons without silverware.
Rijkaard's final match was a festival of goals as 19-year-old Mexican striker Giovani dos Santos scored a hat trick with Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry also on target.
Saturday's game could be both Eto'o's and Henry's final match in a Barca shirt with their futures far from clear but both signed off by getting on the scoresheet.
Brazilian Ronaldinho and Portuguese playmaker Deco are set to follow Rijkaard out of the Camp Nou exit door but took no part against Murcia.
Ronaldinho was a major factor behind Barca's success under Rijkaard with his silky skills and incredible goals.
Lyon makes it 7th straight
Lyon won its seventh consecutive French league title on Saturday by beating Auxerre 3-1 to finish ahead of Bordeaux.
Lyon finished with 79 points from 38 rounds, while Bordeaux only drew 2-2 at Lens to end with 75 points. Marseille beat Strasbourg 4-3 to clinch third place and a spot in the Champions League qualifying round.
Lens was relegated to the second division, while Toulouse and Paris Saint-Germain both won to ensure their safety.
In Saturday's other results, it was: Lorient 1, Lille 1; Metz 4, Le Mans 3; Nancy 2, Rennes 3; Nice 3, Caen 1; Saint-Etienne 4, Monaco 0; Sochaux 1, Paris Saint-Germain 2; and Toulouse 2, Valenciennes 1.
Bremen wins Champs berth
In Berlin, Werder Bremen sealed a Champions League berth Saturday with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on the Bundesliga's final day.
Markus Rosenberg scored in the 79th minute to ensure a second-place finish for Bremen, while Leverkusen missed out on the UEFA Cup with the loss.
Bremen's win also means third-place Schalke must qualify for the Champions League next season.
League champion Bayern Munich, which clinched its 21st title two weeks ago, ended the season with a 4-1 win at home against Hertha Berlin as celebrating fans formed a sea of red-and-white colors.
It was goalkeeper Oliver Kahn's last game before retiring, and he leaves with the club setting a record for the fewest goals allowed in a season. Bayern conceded just 21 goals over 34 rounds – two less than the mark set by Werder Bremen in 1988.
Oliver Kahn left the field with six minutes to play to a standing ovation from the 70,000 at Munich's Allianz Arena.
Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who is also leaving the club, broke into tears after he got the same reception after the final whistle.
Hamburg SV and VfL Wolfsburg earned the league's two UEFA Cup berths with wins. Hamburg routed Karlsruher SC 7-0 while Wolfsburg beat Borussia Dortmund 4-2.
Nuremberg was relegated for a record seventh time after losing 2-0 to Schalke. The club joined MSV Duisburg and Hansa Rostock in the second division next season.
Raul left out
Former captain and leading all-time scorer Raul and Barcelona teenager Bojan Krkic were left out of the Spain squad for Euro 2008 on Saturday.
The surprise inclusions in coach Luis Aragones' 23-man squad were uncapped Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla and Real Zaragoza forward Sergio Garcia.
Raul has not played since the Euro 2008 qualifying defeat against Northern Ireland in September 2006.


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