Bundesliga, round 32 in pictures
Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich warmed up for Wembley, Leverkusen could seal third, as Bremen, Augsburg, Düsseldorf and Hoffenheim were fighting for their lives. It's Bundesliga cruch time.
Captain Neuer saves from spot
Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich drew their dry run of the Champions League final, in a game with more bite than brilliance. Manuel Neuer, makeshift Bayern captain with a string of starters rested, denied Robert Lewandowski from the penalty spot in the second half to save a 1-1 draw. Bayern held on despite a second-half sending off for Rafinha. Expect better at Wembley later this month.
Bremen refuse to leave relegation fight
The Bundesliga's worst defenses, Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim, have now shipped a combined 122 goals. Hoffenheim let in a pair within 30 minutes, as Bremen sought to take a massive step out of relegation danger. But the hosts sat back in the second half and eventually they paid the price. Sub Sven Schipplock hit a pair in the dying minutes to salvage a 2-2 tie. Hoffenheim still need more miracles.
Shot through the Augsburg heart
Augsburg might live to regret a hard-fought, 2-0 defeat in Freiburg. A win, or even a draw, would have pulled the side miraculously out of the drop zone. But they stay 16th, with the demoralizing prospect of a road game against Bayern Munich next week ahead of them. On a brighter note, Freiburg's win puts them squarely in the driver's seat to qualify for European competition, against the odds.
Leverkusen seal third, Kiessling makes 23
Bayer Leverkusen won 2-0 in Nuremberg, despite a spirited showing from the hosts, to wrap up third place in the Bundesliga with two weeks to spare. Stefan Kiessling scored the second from the penalty spot. The striker has hit 23 league goals this season, a club record that beats 22 by Germany ex-international Ulf Kirsten. But bafflingly, Kiessling can't buy a berth in a Jogi Löw's German squad.
Düsseldorf for the drop?
Fortuna Düssledorf needed points from a tricky road game in Frankfurt, who have fared far better than Düsseldorf in their post-promotion season. Frankfurt triumphed 3-1, courtesy of a pair of goals from captain and midfield goal-poacher Alex Meier. Meier has 15 in the Bundesliga, his second on Saturday was a screamer. While Düsseldorf languish near the bottom, Frankfurt are fifth.
Playing away
Greuther Fürth, already relegated, could become the first ever Bundesliga team not to win a home match this season. They have just one more chance. But the down-and-outs beat Stuttgart 2-0 on the road on Saturday, their fourth win on hostile territory. If only away matches counted, last-placed Fürth would sit tenth in the table - if you support these lads, be sure to travel with them.
Mighty Müller, middling Mainz
Mainz and Hannover might both have hoped to make European competition - now, sat ninth and tenth, their chances seem slim. A 2-2 draw in the north helped neither side, though Mainz might have hoped to triumph with their one-man advantage in the second half. Nicolai Müller scored the first and last goals of the game - and he would have had a hat-trick, but for his handball en route to a third goal.
Draxler breaks the deadlock
It took 82 minutes, but Julian Draxler finally opened the scoring for Schalke against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday evening. How easy it is to forget that the German international and Schalke star is still a teenager. One goal was enough for the Royal Blues to tighen their grip on fourth place. Gladbach might feel hard done by, Granit Xhaka rattled the crossbar and Juan Arango hit the post.
Shared spoils, unsatisfactory for all
Hamburg and Wolfsburg drew 1-1 in the last match of the weekend, securing a point apiece that helped neither team. The dropped points mathematically exclude the Wolves from the European dogfight, leaving them down in 11th. As for Hamburg, they now trail Freiburg by three points with two games remaining - to say they have an uphill road to European competition is putting it mildly.