Borussia Dortmund stay second in the Bundesliga despite slumping to a 2-1 defeat at home to ten-man Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Wolfsburg's midfielder Luiz Gustavo celebrates scoring during a German first division Bundesliga football match against Eintracht Braunschweig in Braunschweig, Germany, March 15, 2014. (AFP/Peter Steffen) BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund stay second in the Bundesliga despite slumping to a 2-1 defeat at home to ten-man Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
The result means runaway leaders Bayern Munich hosting fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena later, the European champions can extend their lead to 23 points with a 16th-straight league win.
Leverkusen are the last German team to win against Bayern - who are unbeaten in all of their 49 matches since - dating back to October 28, 2012.
Behind the scenes, Bayern have endured arguably the most turbulent week in the club's history after Uli Hoeness was convicted of major tax fraud on Thursday and resigned as club president 24 hours later.
If Bayern go 23 points clear, they could be confirmed Bundesliga champions next Saturday, if they pick up another three points and their rivals lose, to go 26 points clear with eight games left to play.
Gladbach earned their first win in ten games to dent Dortmund's confidence ahead of Wednesday's Champions League last 16 clash at home to Zenit St Petersburg when they hold a 4-2 lead from the first leg.
"That is a bitter result for us, so the disappointment is huge," said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl.
Dortmund are now just one point clear of third-placed rivals Schalke ahead of the Ruhr Valley derby on March 25.
"We could have a cushion behind us, now things are tight," admitted Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin.
Swiss coach Lucien Favre extended his Gladbach contract last week until 2017 and his side produced a devastating nine-minute first-half spell at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion.
"Don't worry, you'll still finish second in the league," Favre told Klopp after the final whistle.
Gladbach took the lead when a scuffed shot from Brazilian striker Raffael wrong-footed Dortmundgoalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller on 31 minutes after Patrick Herrmann got the better of Borussia defender Mats Hummels to fire in a cross.
The hosts doubled their lead five minutes before the break when Herrmann found Juan Arango and the Venezuelan put in a great final pass for Germany squad striker Max Kruse to fire home five minutes before the break.
Gladbach midfielder Havard Nordtveit was sent off for a second yellow card for the final 20 minutes and new-signing Milos Jojic pulled one back for Dortmund on 77 minutes.
Mainz moved up to fifth with a sensational 4-2 victory at Hoffenheim with Japan's Shinji Okazaki netting their last two goals as the guests scored three times in seven stunning second-half minutes to come from 2-0 down.
The win keeps Thomas Tuchel's Mainz in the hunt for a European spot next season and are only three points short of a Champions League berth.
Relegation-threatened VfB Stuttgart, with new coach Huub Stevens in charge, are winless in their last 10 matches as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen.
Stuttgart's Martin Harnik hammered a first-half penalty attempt off the post just before the break against his old club, but defender Georg Niedermeier gave the guests a 55th-minute lead.
Bremen's Germany midfielder Aaron Hunt fired home a direct free-kick on 79 minutes to share a point.
Wolfsburg drop to sixth after their 1-1 draw at bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig as only three points separate the bottom four clubs including Freiburg, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
Hertha's European aspirations suffered a dent as they lost 2-0 at home to Hanover 96 to stay ninth and four points off the top six.
On Friday, Schalke 04 moved up to third - an automatic Champions League spot - with a 2-1 win at Augsburg as Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice.
Having scored a hat-trick in last Saturday's 4-0 rout of Hoffenheim, Huntelaar took his tally to six goals in his last four games.
The victory is a welcome boost for the Royal Blues ahead of Tuesday's trip to Real Madrid where they face the near-impossible task of over-turning their 6-1 home leg defeat.
The result means runaway leaders Bayern Munich hosting fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena later, the European champions can extend their lead to 23 points with a 16th-straight league win.
Leverkusen are the last German team to win against Bayern - who are unbeaten in all of their 49 matches since - dating back to October 28, 2012.
Behind the scenes, Bayern have endured arguably the most turbulent week in the club's history after Uli Hoeness was convicted of major tax fraud on Thursday and resigned as club president 24 hours later.
If Bayern go 23 points clear, they could be confirmed Bundesliga champions next Saturday, if they pick up another three points and their rivals lose, to go 26 points clear with eight games left to play.
Gladbach earned their first win in ten games to dent Dortmund's confidence ahead of Wednesday's Champions League last 16 clash at home to Zenit St Petersburg when they hold a 4-2 lead from the first leg.
"That is a bitter result for us, so the disappointment is huge," said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl.
Dortmund are now just one point clear of third-placed rivals Schalke ahead of the Ruhr Valley derby on March 25.
"We could have a cushion behind us, now things are tight," admitted Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin.
Swiss coach Lucien Favre extended his Gladbach contract last week until 2017 and his side produced a devastating nine-minute first-half spell at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion.
"Don't worry, you'll still finish second in the league," Favre told Klopp after the final whistle.
Gladbach took the lead when a scuffed shot from Brazilian striker Raffael wrong-footed Dortmundgoalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller on 31 minutes after Patrick Herrmann got the better of Borussia defender Mats Hummels to fire in a cross.
The hosts doubled their lead five minutes before the break when Herrmann found Juan Arango and the Venezuelan put in a great final pass for Germany squad striker Max Kruse to fire home five minutes before the break.
Gladbach midfielder Havard Nordtveit was sent off for a second yellow card for the final 20 minutes and new-signing Milos Jojic pulled one back for Dortmund on 77 minutes.
Mainz moved up to fifth with a sensational 4-2 victory at Hoffenheim with Japan's Shinji Okazaki netting their last two goals as the guests scored three times in seven stunning second-half minutes to come from 2-0 down.
The win keeps Thomas Tuchel's Mainz in the hunt for a European spot next season and are only three points short of a Champions League berth.
Relegation-threatened VfB Stuttgart, with new coach Huub Stevens in charge, are winless in their last 10 matches as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen.
Stuttgart's Martin Harnik hammered a first-half penalty attempt off the post just before the break against his old club, but defender Georg Niedermeier gave the guests a 55th-minute lead.
Bremen's Germany midfielder Aaron Hunt fired home a direct free-kick on 79 minutes to share a point.
Wolfsburg drop to sixth after their 1-1 draw at bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig as only three points separate the bottom four clubs including Freiburg, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
Hertha's European aspirations suffered a dent as they lost 2-0 at home to Hanover 96 to stay ninth and four points off the top six.
On Friday, Schalke 04 moved up to third - an automatic Champions League spot - with a 2-1 win at Augsburg as Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice.
Having scored a hat-trick in last Saturday's 4-0 rout of Hoffenheim, Huntelaar took his tally to six goals in his last four games.
The victory is a welcome boost for the Royal Blues ahead of Tuesday's trip to Real Madrid where they face the near-impossible task of over-turning their 6-1 home leg defeat.
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