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Champions League hopes fading for Bayern after defeat
BERLIN (AFP) - Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was left bitterly disappointed after his side's 2-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday leaves them almost certain to miss a Champions League place next season.
Brazilian Cacau floored Bayern's defence with two goals in as many minutes to open a five-point gap between Stuttgart, in the final Champions League qualifying place, and Bayern in fourth, with only four games left.
Should Bayern fail to finish third or higher it will be the first time in eleven years the German giants have missed out on a Champions League place.
"I am very disappointed with my team," said Hitzfeld.
"We have lost too many duels on the pitch and in the first-half we barely threatened their goal and even after the break, we never really worried their defence.
"Nevertheless, we will not give up the fight for a place in next season's Champions League."
After scoring with a freak goal on 24 minutes when the ball re-bounded off him, Cacau scored again a minute later when Stuttgart midfielder Sami Khedira whipped in a cross for the Brazilian to slip his markers and bury his shot.
"The first goal was a bit funny, I felt it hit me and then fly into the net, but I was really pleased with the second goal," said 26-year-old striker Cacau.
Bayern's German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was so incensed with his leaky defence that he earned himself a yellow card as he vented his frustration at Munich's defence.
Caucau was again allowed too much space with the goal at his mercy four minutes later, but his shot went wide.
Stuttgart coach Armin Veh was delighted at the result which means his side are in pole-position for a Champions League berth and also keeps alive their title hopes.
"This was a very good achievement of us," he said.
"We were very good defensively and we had lots of chances to go further ahead. The team is as fit as a fiddle and after all the euphoria of beating Bayern Munich, we must now concentrate on our last four games."
Schalke 04 went back to the top of the Bundesliga having lost pole-position for less than 24 hours - thanks to Werder Bremen's 3-1 win over Alemannia Aachen on Friday night - with a 2-0 victory at Energie Cottbus.
Cottbus midfielder Timo Rost scored an own goal on the hour mark and Brazilian Bordon scored with a header four minutes later to make it 2-0.
Bayern Leverkusen took opponents Nuremberg's fifth-place - and potential UEFA Cup spot - with a 2-0 home win.
German international midfielder Bernd Schneider gave his side the lead with a right-footed shot after 20 minutes and bagged his second on 59 minutes to make the result safe.
Arminia Bielefeld clawed up one place to 15th and out of the relegation zone with a superb 3-2 win over VfL Wolfsburg.
After scoring an early goal through defender Heiko Westermann after eight minutes, Bielefeld fell behind to goals from Brazilian Marcelo Marcelinho after 16 minutes and striker Isaac Boakye on 53 minutes.
But Bielefeld equalised through striker Christian Eigler on 72 minutes and Polish striker Artur Wichniarek sealed the win on 86 minutes.
VfL Bochum moved up four places to the relative safety of ninth spot thanks to their 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, who slipped further down the table and hover just above the relegation zone.
The Bundesliga's top-scorer, Bochum's Greek striker Theofanis Gekas put his side 1-0 up after 32 minutes before Cameron midfielder Joel Epalle scored two late goals.
Having started the day just one place off the relegation zone, Borussia Dortmund - the 1997 European Champions - boosted their chances of staying up with a 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin, which took them up three places to 12th.
Defender Markus Brzenska scored with a 49th minute header.
On Sunday, Hanover host bottom-club Borussia Moenchengladbach while mid-table Hamburg play second-from-bottom Mainz 05.
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