BAYERN FIRE BLANKS

Stuttgart held Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to a goalless draw at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium on Saturday.

On the return of Michael Ballack to the Bayern first team after injury, it was another midfielder who made the headlines.

Sebastian Deisler was shown a red card three minutes before the interval for violent conduct after a clash with Ludovic Magnin in an ill-tempered game.

Neither side created many openings and 10-man Bayern held on for a draw which, with Hamburg beating Cologne, sees their lead at the Bundesliga cut to four points .

The 10th draw of the season for the home side means coach Giovanni Trapattoni will now fail to fulfil his latest ultimatum.

The Italian coach was set a target of 10 points from the final five Bundesliga fixtures of the year, but three consecutive draws means he can now only make eight.

But the performance of his side against the defending champions should have done enough to convince the Stuttgart board to stick with him.

Stuttgart strikers Jon Dahl Tomasson and Danijel Ljuboja both had chances in the first half, but a block from Valerien Ismael and save from Oliver Kahn ensured neither went in.

Michael Ballack almost marked his return after almost four weeks out injured with a goal in the 27th minute, but Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand was equal to his long-distance effort.

As the sides were preparing to go into the interval all-square, Deisler lost his temper and earned a head start on his team mates into the dressing room.

The Germany international became entangled with Magnin and reacted by lashing out with his leg at the Swiss midfielder, leaving referee Markus Merk no other choice but to brandish a red card.

Both sides created several small chances in the second half with Zvonimir Soldo coming close on two occasions for the home side and Hargreaves trying his luck from distance.

But the closest either team came to breaking the deadlock was in the very last minute, when Claudio Pizarro almost stole the points for Bayern.

The Peruvian striker, who earned Bayern a 2-1 win over Bielefeld on their last trip away with an injury-time strike, almost emulated that feat with a shot from distance.

Hildebrand was happy to see the shot miss his post by a matter of centimetres, however.