India, Jan. 12 -- Stuttgart surged into contention for the Bundesliga's Champions League places after Jamie Leweling scored twice in a 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. On a day when snow cut the Bundesliga schedule from six games to four, Stuttgart made light of below-freezing temperatures. Stuttgart led 4-0 by halftime against a Leverkusen team missing injured striker Patrik Schick and key players at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Both of Leweling's goals came as Stuttgart turned over the ball and surged through the Leverkusen half, either side of a Maximilian Mittelstadt penalty awarded when Leverkusen's Jeanuel Belocian brought down Josha Vagnoman. Deniz Undav made it 4-0 just before halftime. An Alex Grimaldo penalty midway thr...