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Soccer-Lacklustre Bayern edge past Braunschweig as Real await

BERLIN, April 19 (Reuters) - Late goals from Claudio Pizarro and Mario Mandzukic rescued lacklustre Bayern Munich who beat Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 on Saturday to bounce back from two straight league defeats ahead of next week's Champions League semi-final at Real Madrid. The 35-year-old Peruvian was picked to start ahead of Bayern top scorer Mandzukic and the choice proved key as the Bavarians' slump in form showed for much of the game. Bayern, who secured the league title weeks ago and had won none of their last three league games prior to Saturday, were missing several players including keeper Manuel Neuer and defender David Alaba. Despite enough big name players in the squad, however, they struggled against the aggressive hosts, out for any points to avoid relegation. Braunschweig, missing Karim Bellarabi and Marcel Correia who were suspended by coach Torsten Lieberknecht after oversleeping and missing a team meeting, were far livelier despite the absence of injured top striker Domi Kumbela. It took Bayern more than an hour to settle in and Pizarro drilled home from a tight angle after a well-timed pass by Mario Goetze. Substitute Mandzukic settled any nerves in the 86th. Borussia Dortmund tightened their grip on second place, opening a six-point lead over third-placed Schalke 04, who take on VfB Stuttgart on Sunday, with a 4-2 victory over Mainz 05. Dortmund, who hit the woodwork through Marco Reus in the third minute, did better two minutes later with Milos Jojic's deflected shot. Twice Mainz 05 recovered with goals from Japan international Shinji Okazaki but twice the hosts hit back almost instantly with Robert Lewandowski's 18th goal of the campaign and another from fullback Lukasz Piszczek. Lewandowski, in his penultimate home game for Dortmund before joining Bayern next season, then forced Niko Bungert to use his hands to stop the ball in the box. Bungert was sent off and Reus, who twice hit the woodwork in the game, converted the spot kick to clinch their fourth consecutive league win. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Rex Gowar)