Bayer Leverkusen's rout of Bremen underlines their underachievements | Andy Brassell


The 6-2 win was a fine display that deserved to be celebrated, but it also drove home how far short they have fallen

The Bundesliga loves a left turn, and this weekend it saved its best one for the programme’s final fixture. This was supposed to be resurgent Werder Bremen’s day, when victory would have taken them into second place behind Borussia Dortmund, confirming a return to relevance in the extraordinary debut year at the helm of coach Florian Kohfeldt, who celebrates a year in charge on Tuesday.

With just over an hour gone it looked like it still could be, even though they had gone into the break 3-0 down to visiting Bayer Leverkusen. Yuya Osako’s goal, eventually awarded after VAR intervention, reduced the deficit to 3-2, following 40-year-old substitute Claudio Pizarro’s strike, his 193rd in the Bundesliga, which made him the second-oldest scorer in the competition’s history, behind Mirko Votava – also of Werder – in 1996.

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Werder Bremen 2-6 Bayer Leverkusen, Leipzig 0-0 Schalke, Nürnberg 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt, Hoffenheim 4-0 Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Hertha Berlin, Fortuna Dusseldorf 0-3 Wolfsburg, Hannover 1-2 Augsburg, Mainz 1-2 Bayern Munich, Freiburg 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

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