Matchday 26: The top stories

One to go

Bayern remain on course to claim the Bundesliga Meisterschale in record-quick time after their late 2-0 win at Mainz, but with Dortmund and Schalke taking maximum points as well, the title celebrations are on ice for a few days more at least. Bayern can put the championship beyond mathematical doubt at Hertha Berlin on Tuesday, but even if they do, as Arjen Robben explained, they won't be partying the night away in the capital.

Honour before points?

Victories for Dortmund and Schalke kept the title race hypothetically alive a little longer, but outside the realm of miracles, second place is the best either of these Ruhr district heavyweights can hope for this season. Whether three more points towards that end will necessarily be the main incentive when they go head-to-head in Dortmund on Tuesday is, however, a matter of debate. At any rate, both sides warmed up for Germany's ultimate derby on a winning note...

Never mind the quality...

After ten games without a win, VfB Stuttgart finally managed a maximum haul in a relegation six-pointer at home to fellow strugglers Hamburger SV. A return of four points from his first two games in charge ostensibly gives Huub Stevens plenty to smile about, but the veteran Dutch coach was more relieved than anything else at the end of a nervy affair peppered with "moments more suited to the lower leagues" in the 60-year-old's words.

Eagles soar at Nürnberg

Staying at the wrong end of the standings, Eintracht Frankfurt came away from 1. FC Nürnberg with three big points in the bag after an impressive 5-2 win in Franconia. In fact, the last time Eintracht hit anybody for five in the Bundesliga was eight years ago, when they beat Duisburg by the same score. And they have to go back more than 20 years - to 28 August 1993 to be precise - for their last five-goal haul on the road, likewise at Nürnberg.

Leno misses out

1899 Hoffenheim's dramatic 3-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen was, at the twelfth attempt, their first-ever Bundesliga success against the Werkself. With just one point from their last six games, Bayer's claim on a UEFA Champions League berth is meanwhile growing shakier by the week. Sejad Salihovic's masterly penalty to put Hoffenheim 1-0 up also denied home keeper Bernd Leno an outright all-time Bundesliga record of five foiled spot-kicks in a row.

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