FRANKFURT, Germany: The rest of the Bundesliga is promising to provide more competition for Bayern Munich this season.

In the end, however, few people expect no other champion than mighty Bayern.

In a poll of 18 Bundesliga coaches, 14 believe Bayern will end the season as champion, just as it has in four of the last five.

This time, it may be a closer race, mainly because Bayern will be concentrating on another goal, the Champions League. At least that's what Bayern's rivals are hoping for.

Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld says he won't let it happen.

"We have something to make up for in the Champions League. But it would be fatal to concentrate only on that," Hitzfeld said. "If you advance in the Champions League, you run the risk of not winning anything at the national level.

"We want to defend the double, although you can't always win everything. But I would like to be in the final of the Champions League and win it."

Bayern failed to win a game in the Champions League last season and was eliminated in the first group stage.

Looking to soothe its wounded pride, Bayern ripped through domestic competitions, winning its 18th league title with four games to spare and a whopping 16-point margin, then completed a double by capturing the German Cup.

The Bundesliga, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, kicks off Friday with Bayern playing promoted Eintracht Frankfurt.

Captain and star goalkeeper Oliver Kahn says his team is highly motivated.

"The really big teams stand out by being able to advance in all competitions. We have no priorities," Kahn said, indicating that all three titles were of equal importance.

"Our team has to prove first that it can hold its own at top level in all competitions," Kahn said. "Unlike like year, I am really happy that the season is finally starting."

Bayern midfield star Michael Ballack expects the team won't be as dominant domestically this season, but that it can go far in Europe.

"I assume it's going to be a lot closer. In Europe, we don't have to fear any team if we play up to our potential," said Ballack, who runs Bayern's game.

His midfield colleague Sebastian Deisler, finally free of injuries, should begin to live up to his reputation of being one of Germany's most gifted players.

Brazilian striker Giovane Elber, who shared honours as the Bundesliga's top marksman with 21 goals last season, was set to start again. If Bayern succeeds in signing Deportivo de La Coruna's Dutch forward Roy Makaay, the Bavarians will have even more firepower.

Bayern signed two new defenders, young German international Tobias Rau and Argentina's Martin Demichelis. Rau is being groomed as successor to Bixente Lizarazu, while Demichelis should be a starter.

Stuttgart, last season's surprise runner-up, has had key midfielder Krassimir Balakov retire and become an assistant to coach Felix Magath. Magath has no illusions about challenging Bayern.

"For that, we needed to be able to buy more quality players from outside," Magath said.

Stuttgart didn't, but Magath has groomed a number of young players, such as striker Kevin Kuranyi, one of the revelations of last season.

Borussia Dortmund not only lost the title but slipped to third last season. In the offseason, two key players, Torsten Frings and Evanilson, tore knee ligaments and will be out for six months. Coach Matthias Sammer also let goalkeeper Jens Lehmann depart for Arsenal, all of which has forced the club to restock in a hurry.

With the clubs cutting their spending for new players by two-thirds to 32.5 million (US$37.3 million), there were few spectacular new signings.

One was Argentine midfielder Andres D'Alessandro, who cost the unglamorous but increasingly ambitious club Wolfsburg 9 million (US$10.3 million), nearly a third of the entire sum spent by the Bundesliga.

The most talked about transfer was the return of coach Jupp Heynckes from Spain to take over at underachieving Schalke, which also starts with several injured players.

Hertha Berlin, bolstered by the arrival of striker Fredi Bobic, will have to finally start living up to high expectations in the capital if coach Huub Stevens is to survive.

Hamburger SV, which lifted the League Cup in the prelude to the Bundesliga, finished fourth last season and is expected to remain a contender.

Bundesliga opening draw

Friday, Aug. 1

Bayern Munich vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Saturday, August 2

Wolfsburg vs Bochum

Kaiserslautern vs 1860 Munich

Hertha Berlin vs Werder Bremen

Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg

Hamburger SV vs Hannover

Schalke vs Borussia Dortmund

Sunday, August 3

Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Cologne

Hansa Rostock vs Stuttgart

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 07/31/2003 page8)