Bayern needed a late penalty from Dutchman Roy Makaay to salvage a point in a 3-3 draw with Hansa Rostock at the Olympic Stadium after throwing away a two-goal lead.

"If you lead 2-0 you expect to win the match," bemoaned Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld, who saw his team crash out of the Champions League to Real Madrid in midweek.

"We were too passive and let them in."

After their exit from Europe on Wednesday Bayern were desperate to turn up the heat on Bremen, but what resembled a Jekyll and Hyde display looks to have ended their hopes of a trophy this season.

With just ten games of the Bundesliga season remaining it would take a domino-style collapse to stop Bremen picking up a first crown since 1993.

"There are statistics being banded about but they don't mean anything," explained Bremen chief Thomas Schaaf referring to their league lead.

He added: "After a great first half we did not get going in the second and were just glad to hold on against Cologne who made life difficult."

Any suggestions that Bayern would endure a European hangover were unfounded as they took a two-goal lead within nine minutes.

After just three minutes German international Jens Jeremies played a brilliant one-two with Makaay on the edge of the area and raced past the static Rostock defence to slot home.

Six minutes later Hansa goalkeeper Mathias Schober failed to hold a fierce Michael Ballack volley and Makaay was on hand to notch his 16th goal of the season.

The points looked secure but Hansa saw a weakness in the Bayern rearguard and exploited it.

Martin Max pulled a goal back for Hansa at the start of the second period with Ghana defender Sammy Kuffour's positioning leaving a lot to be desired.

Swede Magnus Arvidsson then used his pace to forge clear and crash an effort past Oliver Kahn on 65 minutes for the equaliser.

"Perhaps because we are chasing Bremen we can not relax and make mistakes," claimed German international Kahn. "Last season we had a huge lead and were more composed."

When Thomas Rasmussen put Rostock in front after 72 minutes a shell-shocked Bayern looked set for their first league defeat of the campaign.

But four minutes later Brazilian Ze Roberto was felled in the penalty area and the lethal Makaay stepped up to convert his 17th goal of a fruitful campaign.

In a top against bottom clash Bremen needed all their resilience to hold onto a 3-2 win against a spirited Cologne at the Weserstadion.

The league leaders were cruising after going three goals up in the first period but were forced onto the back foot when Cologne reduced the deficit to a single goal.

On-form French playmaker Johan Micoud opened the scoring on 16 minutes with a left-footed drive before Ailton turned on the style.

The brilliant Brazilian, who is entangled in a row over whether he can represent oil-rich Qatar, struck on 37 minutes to double Bremen's lead and then produced a superb volley seven minutes later to leave Cologne in tatters.

But the basement boys hit back with goals from Oliver Schroder (57) and Dirk Lottner (71) as the Bremen backline wobbled.

However, Thomas Schaaf's side kept their heads, although Cologne had a goal disallowed late on, to take a giant stride towards a first Bundesliga crown in over a decade.

Elsewhere Bayer Leverkusen recorded their first win in 2004 with a 4-2 triumph over VfL Wolfsburg at the BayArena.

Klaus Augenthaler's charges were title contenders before the winter break but have slumped down the ladder and securing a spot in Europe is now the priority.