Bayer Leverkusen keep pressure on Bayern Munich in Bundesliga

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MOSCOW, Russia (TheSportsNEXT) December 2, 2012: Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen did just enough to beat Nurnberg 1-0 today and apply pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich ahead of their showdown against Borussia Dortmund.

Stefan Kiessling scored Leverkusen's winner in the 37th minute for the team's fourth straight victory, pushing his side to 30 points - seven behind Bayern prior to their late kick-off with the champions.

"We have to remain calm and happy that we have a little streak," said Kiessling, who has scored nine goals this season. "It's a nice moment but we have a lot of important games ahead of us and we don't want to think about Bayern. We have to worry about ourselves, and that's it."

Schalke continued their struggles with a 1-1 at home against Borussia Monchengladbach. Timo Hildebrand replaced Lars Unnerstall as Schalke's keeper and looked less than impressive on Igor de Camargo's goal for Gladbach in the 62nd minute. Julian Draxler spared the stopper's blushes however, equalising for Schalke in the 85th minute.

Schalke, however, have not won in four games and improved to just 25 points while Gladbach have 21 points. "We were relieved to have at least picked up the point. If we had lost things would have been bad here," said Draxler.

We have a lot of important games ahead of us and we don't want to think about Bayern. We have to worry about ourselves, and that's it.

Gladbach coach Lucien Lavre said: "The point was deserved. Schalke played well. But to get a point at Schalke is not too bad."

Adam Szalai's goal in the 89th minute gave ten-man Mainz a 2-1 victory at home over Hannover in a battle of teams fighting for European spots. Nicolai Mueller scored on a loose ball after Shawn Parker's shot hit the left post after ten minutes for Mainz but was equalised by Christian Schulz for Hannover.

Mainz lost their keeper four minutes after the break as Christian Wetklo was red-carded but Szalai provided the heroics.

Stuttgart picked up their third victory in the last four games by fending off Greuther Fuerth on the road 1-0 on Shinji Okazaki's goal in the 45th minute. Stuttgart played the final 37 minutes a man down after Serdar Tasci was shown a red card. Fuerth dropped to last place with eight points.

Eintracht Frankfurt missed a chance to keep track with the top challengers by losing 4-0 at Fortuna Duesseldorf on yesterday. Promoted side Augsburg picked up a point in a 1-1 draw at home over Freiburg with Tobias Werner's goal for Augsburg being equalised by Jonathan Schmid.

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UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich pound Lille with 6-0 rout

Monitoring Desk

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 8, 2012: Bayern Munich surged to the top of UEFA Champions League Group F with a hammering of pointless Lille. Claudio Pizarro completed his hat-trick in the 33rd minute, by which point Bayern led 5-0 with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben both striking from free-kicks, the official FIFA website reported.

Salomon Kalou pulled one back from long range but substitute Toni Kroos was quick to add his name to the list of scorers as Bayern moved to nine points ahead of their second meeting with fellow pace-setters Valencia.

"Right from the start, we put in a very good performance. It has been a long time since I have scored three goals, so I am very happy," said Pizarro.

"They scored with almost every attempt on goal," said Lille captain Rio Mavuba. "We're now out of the competition and it hurts. We fought last year to be here and to produce a performance that is not worthy of the club is really disappointing."

Lille's Franck Beria fired over before Bastian Schweinsteiger opened the floodgates inside five minutes, finding the bottom corner with a free-kick after being fouled by Florent Balmont. Nolan Roux nodded over and Salomon Kalou's header was saved by Manuel Neuer as Lille sought a quick response.

But Pizarro made it 2-0 in the 18th minute when he fired home Franck Ribery's pass from outside the box. Another free-kick brought Bayern's third goal, Schweinsteiger fouled once again and Arjen Robben this time stepping up to extend the lead.

Roux threatened twice before his side fell still further behind, Pizarro sweeping home Philipp Lahm's right-wing cross. And the Peruvian international was on the scoresheet again five minutes later, heading home another Lahm delivery to complete his treble.

Neuer saved from Roux and Balmont before Robben threatened a sixth goal at the other end, but his lob was parried away by Mickael Landreau. Marko Basa blocked Ribery's drive and Dante repelled Payet's curler as half-time arrived with no addition to the already extravagant scoreline.

After a quiet opening to the second period, Lille pulled a goal back out of the blue when Kalou let fly from 30 yards and found the top corner of Neuer's net. Jerome Boateng's block denied Roux a second and Bayern quickly extended their lead as Kroos, who had only been introduced on the hour mark, scored in the 66th minute from Lahm's cut-back.

Bayern were not finished and Basa blocked Robben's angled drive before Landreau saved from Xherdan Shaqiri. Landreau produced a double-save to keep out Anatoliy Tymoschuk's long-range drive and Robben's follow-up before Kroos twice went close in a stoppage-time period that also saw Dante block the busy Roux's drive.

Bayern's 2-0 win over Valencia in September means Bayern top the group ahead of their rematch in two weeks' time.

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