Bremen, Schalke in fierce fight for Champions League berth

BERLIN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- German soccer powerhouses Weder Bremen and Schalke 04 were in fierce fight for the berth for next season's Champions League after the two saw different Bundesliga match results on Saturday.

Bremen on Saturday saw an unwilling 3-3 draw at Karlsruher, while German striker Kevin Kuranyi handed Schalke 04 the 1-0 win against Hamburg SV.

Despite a thrilling six-goal match in Karlsruher, Bremen suffered a minor set-back in their bid for a place in the Champions League. With the tie, Werder stay second with 54 points, but Schalke are now level on points.

Diego, Mesut Ozil and Boubacar Sanogo all scored for Werder, while Sebastian Freis scored two goals, his first-ever Bundesliga brace, and Edmond Kapllani shot his first goal of the season.

Schalke 04 made a major step toward the Champions League, which would put an extra 20 million euros (around 32 million U.S. dollars) in Schalke's coffers.

For Hamburg, the dream of a Champions League spot may just be that as they merely brought in pockets with 48 points.

The HSV loss marked their sixth winless match in a row.

Kuranyi scored his 15th goal of the season just two minutes into the match.

Bremen and Schalke's match results mean German record champions FC Bayern Munich, who boast 9 points in the lead, will have to wait for at least another week to secure their 21st title.

"I'm convinced that we will win the Bundesliga, and I don't care when. We want to offer the fans a good match on Sunday," Ottmar Hitzfeld said.

On Sunday, Bayern are to host defending champions VfB Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg will battle for a place in Europe.

On Satuday, Energie Cottbus beat Hansa Rostock 2-1, making the Eastern German club farther away from the drop zone.

Other three matches on Saturday are all draw matches.

Hannover 96 tied Hertha BSC 2-2, the same with the match between FC Nurnberg and Arminia Bielefeld, and MSV Duisburg tied Bochum 1-1.