Champions League semi-finalists Schalke 04 had to come from behind to rescue a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen on Saturday night when they returned to German league action.
Schalke booked a semi-final clash with Premier League giants Manchester United on Wednesday when they beat holders Inter 2-1 at home to win their quarter-final clash after shocking the Italians 5-2 at the San Siro.
The Royal Blues now face Sir Alex Ferguson’s United side on Tuesday, April 26 at the Veltins Arena in the semi-final first leg, but they had to fight back to share the points in the Bundesliga at mid-table Bremen.
Bremen went ahead when striker Sandro Wagner was fouled in the penalty area and the 23-year-old netted the rebound after his 59th-minute spot-kick was saved.
However, the Royal Blues produced the perfect response when Raul fired in a cross that Edu finished with a bullet header on 63 minutes.
Earlier, a late equalizer by VfL Wolfsburg secured a 2-2 draw at home to St Pauli to give the 2009 Bundesliga champions a fighting chance of escaping the drop zone.
Wolfsburg, coached by Felix Magath, who led them to the title only two years ago, are third from bottom and four points from safety with four games left before the season finishes on May 14.
After fellow relegation candidates St Pauli took a late 2-1 lead, a header from Czech midfielder Jan Polak with a minute left gave Wolves a crucial point.
The last two in the Bundesliga are relegated automatically, but the side third from bottom faces a play-off against the side third from top in the second division for the right to play in Germany’s top flight next season.
Third-placed Hannover 96 were held to a goalless draw by Hamburg.
Hannover are on course to go into the play-off for a Champions League place, but they cannot now catch second-placed Leverkusen, who are 13 points ahead.
Dortmund remain on course for their first league title since 2002 as they enjoy a five-point lead over Leverkusen.
Stuttgart pulled away from the drop zone with a 3-1 win at Cologne to put four points between themselves and the bottom three.
Roberto Firmino scored his first goal for Hoffenheim with a 78th-minute strike to earn a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later