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Bayern Munich won 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday to strengthen their grip on the Bundesliga going into the six-week mid-season break.

Victory in the last round of matches in 2005 increased Bayern's lead to six points over Hamburg SV, who were held to a 1-1 draw at third-placed Werder Bremen on Sunday.

Iran midfielder Ali Karimi and Peru striker Claudio Pizarro struck for Bayern before Florian Kringe pulled one back for Dortmund with a header.

Dortmund had defender Kosi Saka sent off a minute from time for clipping the heels of Roy Makaay on a run towards goal.

Fourth-placed Schalke 04 lost further ground when they went down 2-0 at VfB Stuttgart in their first match since coach Ralf Rangnick was fired.

Karimi's Bayern Future In Doubt?

It has been suggested that Dos Santos may be groomed to step in for Captain Michael Ballack should he decide to leave. Dos Santos’ arrival, however, increases the club’s non-European contingent to five, one over the four permitted by UEFA. This raises questions about Iranian midfielder/striker Ali Karimi’s future in Bavaria.

Karimi’s contract with Bayern runs through June of 2006 with an option to extend. With midfielders Owen Hargreaves, Martin Demichelis, and Sebastian Deisler and strikers Roque Santa Cruz, Claudio Pizarro, Roy Makaay, and Jose Paolo Guerrero all signed to contracts running through 2006, it will be interesting to see if the club will exercise their option.

Earlier this week there were rumours that Karimi may me loaned to FC Koln. Karimi’s agent, however, was quick to dismiss the rumors.

Although Karimi has been very involved in Bayern’s Bundesliga and European success this year, some suggest that he may not have lived up to the club’s high expectations.

Club Brugge 1 Bayern Munich 1

Bayern Munich missed the opportunity to finish top of Champions League Group A as they were held to a draw by Club Brugge on Wednesday night.

With Juventus defeating Rapid Vienna 3-1, Bayern dropped to second in the group but could have few complaints as they failed to do enough to break down a resilient Brugge side.

Claudio Pizarro put Bayern ahead after 21 minutes, but that goal was cancelled out 10 minutes later by Javier Portillo's wonder-strike.

Although Bayern had the better of the chances, Brugge never looked in too much danger and they held on for a point with the side already assured of a place in the UEFA Cup.

Bayern's aim for the game was to at least equal the result of Juventus in Vienna, while Brugge were simply looking for a positive performance with their future in the Champions League already over.

The visitors began the game brighter and got the goal they were looking for after 21 minutes.

Sebastian Deisler has scored in Bayern's last three Champions League games, but he was the provider this time as Pizarro maintained his excellent recent form with the opener.

The Peruvian needed just a delicate back-header to deflect Deisler's in-swinging free-kick past Tomislav Butina and into the back of the net.

Another Deisler free-kick shortly afterwards almost yielded the same result, although Martin Demichelis was off-target with his header.

Brugge did not seem too concerned at being one down and not too intent either on searching for an equaliser, until Portillo grabbed a goal out of nothing.

The Spanish midfielder cut in from the left but appeared to be causing no danger with Deisler in close attendance.

But having shifted the ball to his right foot, Portillo curled the ball past Deisler and beyond the reach of Oliver Kahn into the far corner from almost 25 yards out.

Magath brought Ze Roberto and Paolo Guerrero into the fray at half-time to try and inject a bit of life into his side and the tactical change almost paid immediate dividends with the fresh legs combining well down the left.

A one-two between the two substitutes gave Guerrero room to move into the box, but having taken play to the goalline, there was nobody he could pull the ball back to.

An accidental elbow to the cheek from team-mate Demichelis forced Owen Hargreaves to leave the field next as Magath was forced to play his last card early with Bastian Schweinsteiger coming on with over 20 minutes remaining.

Pizarro struck the crossbar from 25 yards as Bayern began to raise the tempo in search of a winner.

Schweinsteiger fired over the bar from six yards out and Deisler tested Butina with a curling effort from just inside the area.

As the clock ticked down, Guerrero raced through and thought he had put Bayern ahead, but time had actually run out with referee Laurent Duhamel blowing for time mid-way through the Peruvian's sprint in on goal.

Duhamel stood by his decision despite the Bayern protests, although the goal would have only changed the result and not the fact the German champions will finish the group second behind Juventus.

BAYERN FIRE BLANKS

Stuttgart held Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to a goalless draw at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium on Saturday.

On the return of Michael Ballack to the Bayern first team after injury, it was another midfielder who made the headlines.

Sebastian Deisler was shown a red card three minutes before the interval for violent conduct after a clash with Ludovic Magnin in an ill-tempered game.

Neither side created many openings and 10-man Bayern held on for a draw which, with Hamburg beating Cologne, sees their lead at the Bundesliga cut to four points .

The 10th draw of the season for the home side means coach Giovanni Trapattoni will now fail to fulfil his latest ultimatum.

The Italian coach was set a target of 10 points from the final five Bundesliga fixtures of the year, but three consecutive draws means he can now only make eight.

But the performance of his side against the defending champions should have done enough to convince the Stuttgart board to stick with him.

Stuttgart strikers Jon Dahl Tomasson and Danijel Ljuboja both had chances in the first half, but a block from Valerien Ismael and save from Oliver Kahn ensured neither went in.

Michael Ballack almost marked his return after almost four weeks out injured with a goal in the 27th minute, but Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand was equal to his long-distance effort.

As the sides were preparing to go into the interval all-square, Deisler lost his temper and earned a head start on his team mates into the dressing room.

The Germany international became entangled with Magnin and reacted by lashing out with his leg at the Swiss midfielder, leaving referee Markus Merk no other choice but to brandish a red card.

Both sides created several small chances in the second half with Zvonimir Soldo coming close on two occasions for the home side and Hargreaves trying his luck from distance.

But the closest either team came to breaking the deadlock was in the very last minute, when Claudio Pizarro almost stole the points for Bayern.

The Peruvian striker, who earned Bayern a 2-1 win over Bielefeld on their last trip away with an injury-time strike, almost emulated that feat with a shot from distance.

Hildebrand was happy to see the shot miss his post by a matter of centimetres, however.

Newspaper has got it wrong

A Munich daily led on Wednesday with the news that Claudio Pizarro was stopped by police while driving home on Saturday night. The report went on to claim the Peruvian was found to have a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal maximum.

"The report is wrong, it was a much lower reading," Pizarro stated on Wednesday. The striker is likely to pay a fine, but will be handed nowhere near the nine-month ban mooted by the newspaper.

Bayern coach Felix Magath had been informed that the players planned to go out on the Saturday evening before a day off on Sunday, when Olli Kahn and company made their annual pre-Christmas visits to selected fan clubs