Thomas Müller captained Bayern against Mainz on Saturday, but the Bavarians had to come from behind twice to salvage a draw. - © © gettyimages / Lennart Preiss
Thomas Müller captained Bayern against Mainz on Saturday, but the Bavarians had to come from behind twice to salvage a draw. - © © gettyimages / Lennart Preiss

Bayern stumble, Dortmund win Battle of the Borussias: The Matchday 30 round-up!

xwhatsappmailcopy-link

It has been yet another of those unpredictable weekends in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich dropping points and bottom-placed Darmstadt winning again.

 How did your Official Fantasy Bundesliga team get on this weekend? Click here to find out!

What a final four weeks it now promises to be with barely any clarity given to the pertinent issues at the top and the bottom after a magnificent Matchday 30 in more ways than one. Here is our round-up of the weekend's action.

Bayern Munich 2-2 Mainz

Bayern were perhaps feeling the after-effects of their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid – both physically and psychologically – as they were held to a draw by Mainz. Take nothing away from the 05ers, though, as they looked determined to repeat last season's feat of being the only side to triumph at the Allianz Arena. That was on the cards too as they led twice through Bojan Krkic and Daniel Brosinski only to be pegged back by Arjen Robben and Thiago Alcantara, nevertheless picking up a crucial point from a prohibitive fixture.

Watch: Thiago Alcantara shares his thoughts on Bayern's draw with Mainz

Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-3 Borussia Dortmund

The battle of the Borussias lived up to its pre-match billing with the lead changing hands three times at BORUSSIA-PARK. Dortmund drew first blood with their Gladbach import Marco Reus tucking in a penalty. Lars Stindl and a Marcel Schmelzer own goal gave the hosts the advantage before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grinningly grabbed his 27th of the season – reinforcing his place at the top of the scoring charts – and Raphael Guerreiro snatching a late winner for the guests, who moved into the top three and will now look forward to a trip to Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

Watch: Goalkeeper Roman Bürki gives a frank account of BVB's win in Mönchengladbach

Schalke 1-1 RB Leipzig

Leipzig failed to make the most of Bayern's slip-up as they were held to a draw in Schalke. As is so often the case, Ralph Hasenhüttl's side made a blistering start, and went ahead through top scorer Timo Werner with only 15 minutes on the clock. Further chances came and went, but the visitors were caught napping just after the restart, as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brought Schalke level with a low header. Leipzig remain eight points behind Bayern, while Schalke are mired in mid-table: six points off Europe, and six points above the relegation playoff place.

Watch: Huntelaar glad to be back among the goals after an injury-hit season:

Ingolstadt 2-4 Werder Bremen

We don't want to say we called it (although we did…) but Werder Bremen are marching towards European football next season and Ingolstadt could not resist the league's current form team. That's right: step aside Bayern Munich, Bremen are the Bundesliga's hot stuff with this their eighth win in their last ten unbeaten games. Max Kruse was the man (we called that too…) who fired them to an emphatic win in Ingolstadt with all four goals for the on-fire German forward. Struggling Ingolstadt were still in it at half-time after Dario Lezcano's goal put them in front, and they regained the lead through Pascal Groß midway through the second half before Kruse took matters into his own hands with three more goals in the final nine minutes. Did you see that, Joachim Löw?

Watch: Max Kruse on his four-goal heroics at the Audi Sportpark

Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Augsburg

It was well worth the wait for Eintracht Frankfurt, who snapped a ten-game winless streak thanks to two goals in nine minutes from Mexican maestro Marco Fabian. Struggling Augsburg may recriminate but they did take the lead through Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and only have themselves to blame for letting their lead slip late on. The Bavarians' resistance was finally broken 12 minutes from time and Ante Rebic finished them off in stoppage time as the Eagles revived their fading European qualification hopes while leaving Augsburg down, but not yet out.

Watch: Marco Fabian on netting a maiden Bundesliga brace

Hertha Berlin 1-0 Wolfsburg

Wolves remain an endangered species in the Bundesliga after being given the fright of their life by an Old Lady on Saturday. Vedad Ibisevic's solitary strike was enough for Hertha Berlin to reinforce their European aspirations and push Wolfsburg even closer to the relegation zone in a game which could have gone either way at the Olympiastadion. Fortunately for the hosts, they struck ruthlessly in their best spell to edge closer to a return to the European stage for the first time since 2009/10.

Watch: Vedad Ibisevic on netting the winning goal for the Old Lady on Matchday 30

Hamburg 1-2 Darmstadt

Darmstadt are dead? long live Darmstadt! Those writing the Lilies' obituaries already just over a week ago have been forced to change the tone somewhat by Torsten Frings' never-say-die troops. A second straight win means they live to fight another week, and the great escape is still on. Aytac Sulu and Felix Platte did the damage with the Bundesliga's dinosaur waking too late with Fabian Holland's stoppage-time consolatory own goal meaning they are just 12 points above the bottom-placed club with four games to go. Who says miracles do not happen in football?

Cologne 1-1 Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim are guaranteed to play their first ever European campaign next season after snatching a draw at Cologne on Friday night, although this was a far cry from their 4-0 romp against the Billy Goats in the reverse fixture. In fact, the hosts probably deserved to edge it after Leonardo Bittencourt's opener, but wasted several chances to add to their lead and were made to pay for it when Kerem Demirbay popped up with a 93rd-minute equaliser. Julian Nagelsmann has taken TSG from the relegation battle to Europe, and the Champions League remains a real possibility.

Watch: Julian Nagelsmann eyes third place after Cologne draw

Freiburg 2-1 Leverkusen

On the subject of anthems, the Schwarzwald-Stadion resident DJ may be putting the Europa League theme onto his playlist next season following Freiburg's third win in their last four. Nils Petersen's opener was cancelled out by a Kevin Volland penalty, but these Freiburg guys refuse to lie down and Pascal Stenzel's late winner lifted them back up to sixth, leaving Leverkusen eight points in their wake. Those Champions League and Europa League CDs could be heading into a drawer at the BayArena, on the other hand, with the prospect of no European football for the first time in seven seasons growing following this latest setback.

Meanwhile, here's how the Bundesliga table looks after Matchday 30 - still plenty to play for at both ends in the final four games of the season!