A run-down of the weekend's events in the Bundesliga, as champions elect Bayern Munich aim to bounce back from their European disappointment and continue their march towards the title.

* Bayern Munich remain optimistic about their UEFA Cup chances despite letting Getafe get away with a 1-1 draw from their quarter-final first leg at the Allianz Arena.

"We had a chance every two or three minutes in the first half and 3-1 or 4-1 would have been a better result," coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said "But we still have a great chance. We're strong away from home so we can go there and win."

Bayern, who have a seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga, will be looking to edge closer to a 21st league title when they host VfL Bochum on Sunday.

* Second-placed Hamburg SV will be without the suspended pair David Jarolim and Joris Mathijsen plus injury victims Ivica Olic and Paolo Guerrero when they travel to improving VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

The shortage of players up front could mean Egypt's Mohamed Zidan, the African Nations Cup winning striker, makes his first league start of the year.

Champions Stuttgart, who are up to sixth after a run of seven league matches unbeaten, are also short of firepower with top striker Mario Gomez out injured.

* Schalke 04 could do with a few goals when they defend third place at home to Hansa Rostock on Saturday. Schalke's 1-0 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals left them with a tally of just six goals from nine matches in the competition this season.

Soren Larsen, who looked in good touch after coming on as a sub on Tuesday, is likely to be promoted to the starting line-up, while Kevin Kuranyi may have to settle for a place on the bench.

"We want to be in the Champions League again next year," said coach Mirko Slomka, stressing the importance of Saturday's game. "We have to get Barcelona out of our heads for a while."

* It was a disappointing week all round for German clubs in Europe, with fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen losing any realistic hope of a UEFA Cup semi-final place after going down 4-1 at home to Zenit St Petersburg.

"We're all desperately disappointed," said coach Michael Skibbe before another tricky game away to Borussia Dortmund on Sunday. "We've been playing so well and with one bad game we've thrown it all away."

* VfL Wolfsburg, in eighth and still in with a chance of a UEFA Cup spot, will have to replace their strike partnership of Grafite and Danijel Ljuboja when they host Hanover 96 in Saturday's derby.

Grafite was banned for five matches after clashing with Mathijsen in the recent game against Hamburg, while Ljuboja has a thigh muscle problem.

Reuters