0 de Cologne

(It helps if you pronounce it Oh)

Werder Bremen squandered the chance to close the gap behind Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen on Sunday when they were held to a goalless draw by relegation-candidates Cologne.

Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen’s trip north was fruitless as they were held to a goalless draw at Hanover 96 on Saturday, but their lead remains at three points after Werder Bremen’s journey in the other direction provided a second 0-0 draw of the weekend.

For relegation threatened FC Cologne however, the point against Bremen was valuable as it enabled them to move away from the relegation zone and leaves them 14th. VfB Stuttgart and VfL Bochum behind them drew 1-1 but the big losers were Nuremberg, whose 4-0 defeat at Dortmund left them second bottom on 12 points.

According to German media reports, Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel has been fired after his side drew 1-1 with Bochum on Saturday with the sacking expected to be confirmed Sunday evening.

Babbel was robbed of his first league win since September by a stunning goal from Bochum’s Austrian defender Christian Fuchs in the last minute which would have taken his side out of the bottom three. Several thousand Stuttgart fans then gathered outside their Mercedes-Benz Arena after the game demanding Babbel’s resignation with their side third from bottom. Several police officers were injured and a handful of arrests were made after angry scenes.

Stuttgart are still just about in the Champions League but need victory over Romanian upstarts Unirea Urziceni at home on Wednesday to progress from Group G.

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