Werder Bremen completed a miserable week when they were beaten 3-2 by Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday, squandering their chance to go top of the Bundesliga three weeks from the end of the season.

Werder, beaten 3-0 by Spanish side Espanyol in the UEFA Cup semi-final, first leg on Thursday, had the chance to overtake slumping Schalke 04 but ended the weekend third on 60 points.

The Bundesliga championship tightened dramatically. Schalke, beaten 2-1 by VfL Bochum on Friday, cling to a one-point lead on 62 points with VfB Stuttgart second on 61 after a 1-0 defeat of Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Only Bayern Munich, in fourth, fell off the pace with their second straight defeat on Saturday, losing to Hamburg SV 2-1. The outgoing champions have 53 points and have all but been eliminated from next season’s Champions League competition.

‘It’s going to remain tense all the way to the end of the season,’ said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf after his team’s three-match, league winning streak was ended by Bielefeld, whose second successive win lifted them out of the relegation zone.

‘We had our chance to go to the top but we didn’t take it. Both teams played a great match even …

A heroic last-gasp brace from Daniel van Buyten earned resilient Bayern a deserved draw in a game of fluctuating fortunes in Milan on Tuesday.

A sell-out 77,700 crowd at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium saw Michael Rensing pull off two stunning reaction saves in the first half, although Oliver Kahn’s young deputy was powerless to prevent Andrea Pirlo opening the scoring five minutes before the visitors could reach the haven of half-time.

Bayern doggedly held firm in the face of Milan’s second half onslaught and slowly gained the upper hand in the closing phase, the reward for the Reds’ persistence arriving with Van Buyten’s close-range equaliser on 78 minutes.

A valuable draw looked the likely outcome, but Bayern had not reckoned with a dubious decision by Russian referee Baskakov just six minutes from time, the match official electing to award a peanlty after what looked like a perfectly fair Lucio challenge on Kaká.

The Brazil midfielder duly converted to restore his side’s lead, but Bayern turned their dismay at the controversial penalty into a late, late equaliser when hero of the night Van Buyten bundled home at the far post with the last kick of the match to earn his team …

Roy Makaay scored his 100th goal for Bayern Munich as the champions roared back into the Bundesliga title race with a 2-0 win at home to leaders Schalke 04 on Saturday.

Makaay put Bayern ahead in the third minute when he took a Mark van Bommel pass and crashed in. The home side kept control and Hasan Salihamidzic squeezed in a shot 12 minutes from time to complete the victory.

Werder Bremen missed the chance to replace Schalke at the top as they were held to a goalless draw at Energie Cottbus.

With seven games to play, Schalke are top on 53 points, followed by Werder on 51. VfB Stuttgart are still in the running after they won 3-1 at home to Alemannia Aachen to remain third on 49 points. Bayern, who take on AC Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals next week, are in fourth on 47, back within six points of the leaders and still in with a chance to claim a third successive league title.

‘We deserved the win because of all the chances we created,’ Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld told reporters. ‘We were also solid at the back and that will give us confidence for the …