Bayern stumble on Hitzfeld's return

Ottmar Hitzfeld endured a miserable start to his second spell in charge of FC Bayern München on Friday as the defending champions were humbled 3-0 at 1. FC Nürnberg.

Easy victory
Bayern parted company with Felix Magath on Wednesday and reappointed Hitzfeld as coach after falling to fourth in the Bundesliga, eight points off top spot. Hitzfeld's return saw matters go from bad to worse as Nürnberg sealed an easy victory over their Bavarian rivals with goals from Ivan Saenko, Markus Schroth and Róbert Vittek. One positive was the return to action of long-term injury victim Owen Hargreaves, after a broken leg.

'Real disappointment'
"I knew it was going to be difficult and now I've seen just how much work there is to do," Hitzfeld said. "We played with very little self belief, and that was a real disappointment." The result means Bayern, champions for the past two seasons, have taken just a point from their first three matches since the midwinter break. They are certain to fall even further behind as Werder Bremen and FC Schalke 04, who lead the standings with 42 points apiece, meet on Sunday.