UPDATE 1-Soccer-Bremen and Schalke keep Bundesliga hopes alive

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By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 kept alive their slim hopes of catching Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday.

An 86th-minute equaliser from Boubacar Sanogo gave Bremen a dramatic 3-3 draw at Karlsruhe to hold on to second place on 54 points while Schalke, third also with 54, beat Hamburg SV 1-0.

Bayern lead the table with 63 points with five matches remaining and play VfB Stuttgart at home on Sunday. Bayern could have clinched their 21st German championship against Stuttgart if Werder had lost and Schalke had not won.

Bremen came from behind twice to snatch a crucial point in Karlsruhe and stay ahead of Schalke on goal difference in the second-place battle for direct Champions League qualification.

"We gave up some points needlessly here," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf told Germany's Premiere Television.

"I couldn't even begin to count how many chances we had. Even at the end we had enough chances to win. It's our own fault. I wish we could have taken three points home."

Sebastian Freis beat the Bremen offside trap to put mid-table Karlsruhe in front after 15 minutes before Diego fired in a deflected equaliser seven minutes later.