Cologne wins Bundesliga relegation duel, Stuttgart eyes Champions League

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BERLIN (AP) — Cologne eased its Bundesliga relegation worries on Sunday, Stuttgart took another step toward Champions League qualification and Freiburg defeated Mainz 1-0 away in a duel between European contenders.

Host Cologne enjoyed a 3-1 win over 10-man Werder Bremen that left the visiting team just outside the drop zone.

It was the Billy Goats' first win under interim coach René Wagner after a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on his debut last weekend. Wagner was handed the reins for the rest of the season after Cologne fired Lukas Kwasniok as coach on March 22.

Bremen’s hopes took a major blow in the 24th minute when captain Marco Friedl was sent off for bringing down Ragnar Ache as the Cologne forward was through on goal.

Cologne moved five points above the relegation zone, while Bremen is just three points clear of danger with five rounds remaining. The bottom two teams, Wolfsburg and Heidenheim, are now seven and nine points adrift respectively.

Stuttgart eased to a 4-0 win at home over Hamburger SV to reclaim third place from Leipzig on goal difference.

Germany forward Deniz Undav missed a late penalty minutes before substitute Bilal El Khannouss completed the scoring in the 86th.

Angelo Stiller, Chris Führich and Maximilian Mittelstädt were the other scorers as Stuttgart stayed four points clear of fifth-place Bayer Leverkusen. The top four qualify for the Champions League.

Lucas Höler's header after the break was enough for Freiburg's hard-fought win in Mainz.

Freiburg and Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi received a blow to his knee late in the game and needed support to walk off the field afterward.

Both teams won their European matches on Thursday. Freiburg goes to Celta Vigo with a 3-0 lead from the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal, while Mainz visits Racing Strasbourg with a 2-0 advantage in the Conference League quarterfinals.

Bayern Munich can clinch the title as early as next Sunday at home against Stuttgart if second-place Borussia Dortmund drops more points at Hoffenheim the day before.

Bayern, which broke its own goals record on Saturday, leads Dortmund by 12 points with five rounds remaining.

Also Saturday, Union Berlin fired Steffen Baumgart as coach and gave the job to Marie-Louise Eta for the rest of the season, making her the first female head coach in men’s soccer in the Bundesliga and across the top divisions of Europe’s “big five” leagues.

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