Werder Bremen completed a miserable week when they were beaten 3-2 by Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday, squandering their chance to go top of the Bundesliga three weeks from the end of the season.

Werder, beaten 3-0 by Spanish side Espanyol in the UEFA Cup semi-final, first leg on Thursday, had the chance to overtake slumping Schalke 04 but ended the weekend third on 60 points.

The Bundesliga championship tightened dramatically. Schalke, beaten 2-1 by VfL Bochum on Friday, cling to a one-point lead on 62 points with VfB Stuttgart second on 61 after a 1-0 defeat of Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Only Bayern Munich, in fourth, fell off the pace with their second straight defeat on Saturday, losing to Hamburg SV 2-1. The outgoing champions have 53 points and have all but been eliminated from next season's Champions League competition.

'It's going to remain tense all the way to the end of the season,' said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf after his team's three-match, league winning streak was ended by Bielefeld, whose second successive win lifted them out of the relegation zone.

'We had our chance to go to the top but we didn't take it. Both teams played a great match even if we made too many mistakes. I think a close race to the wire and matches like this are good for football.'

Bielefeld went ahead three times in a high-pace thriller with plenty of chances at both ends and Werder equalised twice. Christian Eigler scored Bielefeld's winner after 79 minutes.

Eigler collided in front of the Werder goal with keeper Andreas Reinke and Werder defender Naldo. Eigler was the first of the three to bounce back onto his feet, he spun around and tapped the ball into the open goal.

Bielefeld went ahead after 30 minutes when Heiko Westermann broke free of Bremen markers and headed in a Joerg Boehme free kick. Miroslav Klose equalised just before the hour, tapping in a rebound from close-range.

Jonas Kamper put the visitors 2-1 ahead two minutes later with a shot into the far corner from the right before Hugo Almeida came off the bench to head a long Klose cross into the Bielefeld goal in the 74th minute.

'It was incredible the way we fought to get the lead three times,' said Bielefeld coach Ernst Middendorf, whose team are three points clear of the relegation zone. 'But we still need more points. It was a small step but we're not safe yet.'

A heroic last-gasp brace from Daniel van Buyten earned resilient Bayern a deserved draw in a game of fluctuating fortunes in Milan on Tuesday.

A sell-out 77,700 crowd at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium saw Michael Rensing pull off two stunning reaction saves in the first half, although Oliver Kahn's young deputy was powerless to prevent Andrea Pirlo opening the scoring five minutes before the visitors could reach the haven of half-time.

Bayern doggedly held firm in the face of Milan's second half onslaught and slowly gained the upper hand in the closing phase, the reward for the Reds' persistence arriving with Van Buyten's close-range equaliser on 78 minutes.

A valuable draw looked the likely outcome, but Bayern had not reckoned with a dubious decision by Russian referee Baskakov just six minutes from time, the match official electing to award a peanlty after what looked like a perfectly fair Lucio challenge on Kaká.

The Brazil midfielder duly converted to restore his side's lead, but Bayern turned their dismay at the controversial penalty into a late, late equaliser when hero of the night Van Buyten bundled home at the far post with the last kick of the match to earn his team a historic draw.

Bayern showed two changes to the side which beat Schalke 2-0 at the weekend, Owen Hargreaves returning to midfield and Rensing making his second European start in goal.

The changes covered for the suspended Mark van Bommel and Oliver Kahn, although Hargreaves rates as first-choice in Bavaria nowadays and only missed Saturday's match with injury.

The authentic non-regular face in the line-up belonged to Bayern youth product Andreas Ottl, handed a start by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld after impressing against the Bundesliga leaders three days previously.

The German champions lined up in a 4-2-2-2 formation featuring Ottl and Hargreaves as a holding pair, against the home side's 4-4-1-1 with Brazil superstar Kaká behind lone striker Alberto Gilardino, Bayern's least-favourite Milan striker Pippo Inzaghi relegated to a start on the bench.

The match opened at a brisk pace with the Milanese pouring forward in search of an early goal, but the Italians were restricted to a half-chance from veteran midfielder Clarence Seedorf as the Bavarian defence, expertly marshalled by Lucio and Daniel van Buyten, weathered the early storm.

Bastian Schweinsteiger tried his luck from distance, but the bulk of the action was at the other end and Rensing's first moment of brilliance came with a breathtaking one-handed stop to deny Massimo Ambrosini's close-range header on the quarter-hour.

A couple of Ottl drives and a Salihamidzic effort from 25 yards ensured it was not all one-way traffic, but Rensing continued his heroics after 36 minutes with a stunning reflex block when the unmarked Gilardino headed goalwards from inside the six-yard box after Massimo Oddo had scampered clear down the right.

The Reds survived a decent Milan shout for a penalty on 40 minutes after Lucio's risky challenge on Kaká, but the respite lasted just seconds as Oddo returned a loose ball behind the defence for Pirlo, timing his run to perfection, to loop a header over the stranded Rensing and in at the far corner.

The home side continued to apply the pressure in the opening phase after the restart, but Mirko Jankulovski missed the target and Gilardino netted from an offside position on 53 minutes, the striker earning a booking from Russian referee Baskakov for continuing with play after the whistle, thus ruling himself out of the return in Munich.

The Italians' best chances fell to Kaká, unsettled by Rensing's looming presence as he shaped to tap home, and the lively Oddo on the volley, but after Hitzfeld replaced the subdued Lukas Podolski with Claudio Pizarro and the injured Willy Sagnol with Christian Lell twenty minutes from time, the Germans were suddenly a far more imposing

Bayern saw the lion's share of possession in the closing stages and were rewarded for their resilience when Pizarro beat Oddo to Lell's 78th minute cross, leaving van Buyten to turn the ball past Milan keeper Dida for the equaliser.

But there was a savage twist in the tail from a Bavarian point of view when the match official adjudged Lucio's challenge on Kaka as a foul, the midfielder himself stepping up to hand his side the lead from the spot.

However, big-hearted Belgian Van Buyten was not to be denied as he burst forward to net the dramatic equaliser three minutes into stoppage time and set his side up superbly for next week's second leg.

Roy Makaay scored his 100th goal for Bayern Munich as the champions roared back into the Bundesliga title race with a 2-0 win at home to leaders Schalke 04 on Saturday.

Makaay put Bayern ahead in the third minute when he took a Mark van Bommel pass and crashed in. The home side kept control and Hasan Salihamidzic squeezed in a shot 12 minutes from time to complete the victory.

Werder Bremen missed the chance to replace Schalke at the top as they were held to a goalless draw at Energie Cottbus.

With seven games to play, Schalke are top on 53 points, followed by Werder on 51. VfB Stuttgart are still in the running after they won 3-1 at home to Alemannia Aachen to remain third on 49 points. Bayern, who take on AC Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals next week, are in fourth on 47, back within six points of the leaders and still in with a chance to claim a third successive league title.

'We deserved the win because of all the chances we created,' Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld told reporters. 'We were also solid at the back and that will give us confidence for the next game.'

Bayern, struggling to keep up in the league after taking just one point from their two previous games, were given the perfect start with Makaay's 13th Bundesliga goal of the season. It was his 75th in the Bundesliga and his 100th in competitive matches since joining Bayern in 2003, the club said.

Bastian Schweinsteiger took the ball in from the left and found Van Bommel. He then teed up fellow Dutchman Makaay to run in and clatter a shot into the top corner.

The rest of the first half was largely free of chances, as Bayern kept possession well without really threatening a second.

There was much more urgency from both sides after the break.

Makaay should have made it 2-0 in the 48th minute when he was put through on goal but this time Manuel Neuer saved brilliantly.

Neuer did well again to keep out a Lukas Podolski effort in the 56th minute and Bayern kept pushing until eventually the second arrived, with Lucio's pass setting up Salihamidzic to smash in.

'We're disappointed, obviously,' said Schalke coach Mirko Slomka. 'We thought we could get a lot more from this game but we just didn't create enough chances.'