Bundesliga: Bayern draws 1-1 with Hoffenheim but stays two points clear at top

Bayern Munich conceded a 71st-minute free kick to draw 1-1 at home against Hoffenheim but stayed two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with six games remaining.

Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller reacts after the match. | Photo Credit: REUTERS/Leonhard Simon

Bayern Munich conceded a 71st-minute free kick to draw 1-1 at home against Hoffenheim on Saturday at the end of a turbulent week for the champion but it stayed two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with six games remaining.

It was Bayern’s latest slipup under coach Thomas Tuchel following last week’s German Cup exit to Freiburg and Tuesday’s 3-0 Champions League quarterfinal first-leg loss at Manchester City.

But the league draw had only limited impact after second placed Borussia Dortmund squandered a two-goal lead and conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in its 3-3 draw at VfB Stuttgart to remain two points behind Bayern on 57.

RB Leipzig climbed into third place on 51 after its 3-2 victory over Augsburg.

The Bavarians were without the suspended Sadio Mane following his clash with teammate Leroy Sane after Tuesday’s 3-0 Champions League loss to Manchester City. Mane hit Sane after their quarterfinal first-leg loss, earning a fine and a one-game ban.

While Bayern, which hosts City in the return leg on Wednesday, looked sluggish in the first half with only a few chances, it did go in front when France international Benjamin Pavard drilled in after 17 minutes.

Tuchel, who took over from Julian Nagelsmann last month, had insisted before the game the Mane case was closed and the air was cleared but it was obvious the incident had affected them beyond Sane’s visibly swollen lip.

Despite pressure during spells in the second half, the hosts clearly lacked any spark up front and gradually eased off at the back.

The visitors came close with two chances in the 55th -- a Pavel Kaderabek volley and an Angelo Stiller header -- that both narrowly missed the target.

They got the equaliser in the 71st courtesy of a curled Andrej Kramaric free kick.

They did it better in the 71st and bagged an unexpected equaliser courtesy of a curled Andrej Kramaric free kick.

Hoffenheim thought its joy had been short-lived when Pavard stabbed in from close range a minute later, only for his effort to be ruled offside.