Football
PA Sport and Associated Press 9y

Bayern Munich lose to Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund held

Bayer Leverkusen substitute Julian Brandt scored on his 19th birthday to seal a 2-0 defeat for Bayern Munich in the German champions' first game since sealing the league title.

Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring with a free kick through the Bayern wall in the 55th minute, finding the gap between Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez.

Brandt scored with a powerful shot past the helpless Manuel Neuer in the 81st minute, following a great run and through ball from Karim Bellarabi, who robbed Thiago Alcantara.

Bayern, who sealed the title with four games to spare, next play Barcelona away for the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.

Hoffenheim halted Borussia Dortmund's recent resurgence by taking a 1-1 draw at the Rhein-Neckar Arena on Saturday.

Kevin Volland's opener was cancelled out by Mats Hummels as both sides had to settle for a point that keeps them in the hunt for a place in Europe next season.

With three games of the season remaining, both are within three points of the top six and a place in the Europa League.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar ended his goal drought with a brace as Schalke defeated Stuttgart 3-2.

Huntelaar, who had not scored in 1,187 minutes before kick-off, scored in the ninth minute and equalised in the 78th after Martin Harnik and Filip Kostic had put Stuttgart ahead.

Kevin-Prince Boateng had a hand in Schalke's first win in seven games when his 89th-minute volley was deflected in by Stuttgart defender Florian Klein. It was later adjudged an own goal by the defender.

Second-placed Wolfsburg threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 in the lower Saxony derby against Hannover, with substitute Jimmy Briand and Salif Sane engineering the second-half comeback at the Volkswagen Arena.

Bas Dost had earlier continued his good form for Wolfsburg with the opener on 24 minutes while Ivan Perisic had doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, but Hannover fought back.

However, the draw still sees Hannover drop into the bottom three for the first time this season, and they are just two points above the automatic relegation spots.

Paderborn lifted themselves above relegation rivals Freiburg with a 2-1 away win at the Dreisamstadion, as Lukas Rupp produced the second-half heroics with two goals in 10 minutes for the visitors to overhaul Nils Petersen's opener.

Like Dortmund and Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen also kept themselves in the hunt for a Europa League spot with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Weserstadion, with Davie Selke getting on the scoresheet.

It proved a less-than-happy homecoming for Frankfurt boss Thomas Schaaf, who was returning to the club where he made his name as a player and then spent 14 years as coach.

Elsewhere, Augsburg only just managed to keep hold of their place inside the top six, but a goalless draw at home to Cologne still leaves them with work to do if they are to play in Europe next season.

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