Bayern Munich remain four points clear of Werder Bremen at the top of the German Bundesliga after the Bavarians won 1-0 at Schalke on Saturday.Bayern heaped the pressure on under-fire Schalke coach Mirko Slomka with a 1-0 victory at the Veltins Arena in round 22.
Miroslav Klose struck the winner in the 14th minute to condemn the sixth-placed Royal Blues to their third straight domestic defeat.
Slomka now takes his side to Porto on Wednesday for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash knowing another loss could cost him his job.
Werder Bremen kept up the pressure on the league leaders after Markus Rosenberg struck either side of half-time to give them a 2-0 home win over Borussia Dortmund.
Karlsruhe, in their first season in the top flight following their promotion last year, continued to defy expectations as a 3-1 home win over Wolfsburg moved their into the UEFA Cup spots.
Mario Eggimann opened the scoring for the home side only for Marcel Schafer to bring the Wolves level. But late goals from Joshua Kennedy and Alexander Iashvili won it for KSC.
Hannover also reignited their European hopes with a 2-1 win at home to struggling Nurnberg.
Szabolcs Huszti struck the winner after Zvjezdan Misimovic had cancelled out Arnold Bruggink's first-half opener for Hannover to leave Nurnberg in the relegation places and their new coach Thomas von Heesen still searching for his first win.
Elsewhere, Fin Bartels scored an 86th-minute equaliser for Hansa Rostock to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Arminia Bielefeld. Christian Eigler had put Bielefeld ahead just two minutes earlier.
On Friday, Hertha Berlin pushed MSV Duisburg closer towards the trapdoor with a 2-0 win at the Olympic Stadium.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg look to strengthen their claims for a Champions League place when they face VfL Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.
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