LEVERKUSEN, April 24 (Bundesliga) - Bayer Leverkusen stepped up their bid for a place
in next season's UEFA Cup by beating defending Bundesliga champions Werder Bremen at
the BayArena on Sunday afternoon.
Bayern Munich's defeat of Arminia Bielefeld in the DFB Pokal semi-final in midweek
meant that sixth-place in the Bundesliga would be enough to qualify for Europe's second
tier competition.
And Leverkusen moved to within a point of sixth with this win.
Klaus Augenthaler's men started well and went in front after just three minutes through
Jacek Krzynowek.
Marko Babic made it 2-0 after 37 minutes and although Miroslav Klose pulled one back
almost immediately, Leverkusen hung on to secure their 14th win of the season.
Bremen have struggled to live up to last season's achievements although a win in
Leverkusen would have kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
But the visitors could have hardly made a worse start as they gifted Leverkusen an
early lead.
Paul Stalteri played an awful back pass which was intercepted by Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian showed commendable composure to pick out Krzynowek and he tapped into
the empty net.
Berbatov was proving a handful for the Bremen defence and only a fine save from Andreas
Reinke prevented the home side from moving 2-0 ahead after 19 minutes.
It was a shortlived reprieve for Bremen though as Leverkusen added to their lead with
their next meaningful forward sortie.
A quick counter-attack led to Gonzalo Castro playing in Babic and he made no mistake
with a crisp finish.
Bremen hit back within 60 seconds, however, when Umit Davala's cross was not cleared
by Roque Junior and Klose beat keeper Jorg Butt to the loose ball to head into the
empty net.
Leverkusen were wobbling and Klose missed a wonderful chance to equalise four minutes
before half-time, the Germany striker scuffing his close-range shot after a fine cross
from Ivan Klasnic.
Bremen were finally coming to life after seemingly suffering a hangover from their
midweek penalty shoot-out DFB Pokal defeat to Schalke.
And only a wonderful save from Butt to keep out Klose's volley kept Leverkusen's lead
intact.
Butt also saved well from Klasnic and Tim Borowski, the latter chance coming in the
final minute.
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