German round-up
VfB Stuttgart suffered their second consecutive defeat when they lost 3-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen tonight to drop to fourth place in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart, who were top and undefeated until they lost 1-0 to champions Bayern Munich 1-0 on Saturday, failed to bounce back in this their last game before the winter break.
They remain four points behind leaders Werder Bremen, who beat Hansa Rostock 3-0 yesterday to secure top spot at the halfway stage.
Leverkusen and Bayern, who crushed SC Freiburg 6-0 last night, are second and third respectively. Like Stuttgart they have 35 points.
The battle for the title, which will resume on January 31st, is likely to become a race between the top four sides with fifth-placed VfL Bochum now 13 points off top spot after fighting for a 2-2 draw at Hanover 96 tonight.