Schalke, Bremen clinch Champions League places

Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen clinched the two remaining Champions League places on the final day of the Bundesliga season on Saturday thanks to Bayern Munich's ninth successive victory over VfB Stuttgart.

Schalke secured the runners-up spot, 14 points behind Bayern, with a 3-2 win away to bottom club Freiburg. An Ebbe Sand strike and two Marcelo Bordon headers saw the Gelsenkirchen side home.

Stuttgart needed a home win over Bayern to be sure of keeping hold of third place but was overpowered by the champion, who closed out the season with a 3-1 win through goals from Michael Ballack, Hasan Salihamidzic and Roy Makaay.

Stuttgart's defeat opened the door for Hertha Berlin to take third place but the club from the capital missed out as it was held to a goalless draw at home to Hanover 96.

Werder Bremen, last season's double winners, duly took advantage with a 2-1 win away to Kaiserslautern.

Schalke, who finished with 63 points, gain direct entry to the Champions League, while Bremen, in third with 59, go into the final qualifying round.

Hertha finished fourth on 58, ahead of Stuttgart on goal difference, while Bayer Leverkusen took the third and final UEFA Cup qualification place with a 5-1 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Schalke was far from convincing against Freiburg but got the win it needed thanks to Bordon's two classy headers in the second half.

Sand had put them ahead with a close-range finish early on, only for Aleksandr Iashvili to score on the rebound and draw level in the 11th minute.

Bordon, one of the outstanding defenders in the Bundesliga this season, put Schalke back in front in the 55th minute when he nodded in from a free kick and the Brazilian clinched victory with another header a minute from time after Roda Antar had equalized.

Bayern proved far too strong for Stuttgart.

Ballack got a faint touch on a Sebastian Deisler free-kick for the opener in the 27th minute and Salihamidzic headed in the second three minutes later.

Makaay took his goals total for the season to 22 with the third in the 71st minute and Imre Szabics struck a late goal that was no consolation at all for Stuttgart.

Hertha should have taken advantage but its forwards missed a stack of chances against Hanover, leaving Bremen to strike gold thanks to goals from Tim Borowski and Nelson Valdez.

Source: Xinhua