Matchday 23 live updates

As ever, bundesliga.com brings you the reaction to the weekend's barnstorming entertainment...

MATCHDAY 23 RESULTS:(Click on the score in each fixture to view individual match highlights).

FC Bayern München 4-1 1. FC Köln
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 FC Schalke 04
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1-0 SC Freiburg
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2-0 1. FSV Mainz 05
Hannover 96 1-1 VfB Stuttgart
Hertha Berlin 1-0 FC Augsburg
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Hamburger SV
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 SC Paderborn 07
SV Werder Bremen 3-5 VfL Wolfsburg

Monday 2 March

Eyes on the cup
Dresden vs. Dortmund is just one of seven other cup ties taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here's the full fixture list for the DFB Cup last 16:

Tuesday
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. 1. FC Kaiserslautern
VfR Aalen vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
SC Freiburg vs. 1. FC Köln
Dynamo Dresden vs. Borussia Dortmund

Wednesday
RB Leipzig vs. VfL Wolfsburg
Arminia Bielefeld vs. SV Werder Bremen
Kickers Offenbach vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
FC Bayern München vs. Eintracht Braunschweig

Make sure you keep up to date with all the action right here on bundesliga.com. Our live updates will resume on Thursday ahead of Matchday 24. Bis dann!.

They may still be eight points behind league leaders FC Bayern, but with 33 points still to play for this season and a favourable run of games to come in the league, Wolfsburg haven't given up hope of winning the Bundesliga title just yet. Dieter Hecking's charges are in scintillating form at the moment and continued their unbeaten start to 2015 at the Weserstadion on Sunday evening.

Stuttgart were dealt another blow in their battle against the drop with news that midfielder Martin Harnik will miss the club's next two Bundesliga games through suspension after being shown a straight red card against Hannover 96 on Saturday. The Swabians have accepted the punishment and will therefore be without the 27-year-old against Hertha Berlin and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Stuttgart confirmed the news on their official Twitter account on Monday afternoon: "Two-game ban for Harnik."

Check out what the Bundesliga head coaches made of their sides' performances in the latest round of action by heading here. Bayern boss Pep Guardiola was particularly effusive in his praise of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who made a number of top-notch saves to nip a Köln fightback in the bud on Friday.

The pictures of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus celebrating as Batman and Robin during Dortmund's 3-0 win over Schalke on Saturday may have stunned most spectators, but for those who know 'Auba', it will not have comes as a surprise. Not only does he have previous when it comes to superhero celebrations, he's long had a thing for Gotham City's most famous son. Find out more right here.

The Bundesliga stars strutted their stuff over the weekend and now it's your turn to get involved. Vote for your Matchday 23 Player of the Week from our three-man shortlist here, and cast your ballot for the Goal of the Week right here. If you've not seen the top five strikes yet, you can check them out in the video below:

Wondering what Wolfsburg's Bas Dost or Bayern's Arjen Robben had to say for themselves after continuing their remarkable scoring form on Matchday 23? Or perhaps you'd like to hear from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to get the lowdown on his outrageous Batman and Robin celebration against Schalke? Well, you're in the right place! We've got video interviews with that fearsome trio, and plenty more besides. Head to our WATCH page to enjoy the full spread of our audiovisual delights...

Gladbach's goalscorer Patrick Herrmann admitted after yesterday’s 2-0 win over Paderborn the Foals have their sights set firmly on European qualification. “It’s looking good for us, but there’s still a long way to go,” said the 24-year-old to bundesliga.com. “We have a lot of quality in our squad. Everyone’s doing a phenomenal job.”

Local newspaper Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung was full of praise for the Wolves after their 5-3 win at Bremen: “Yet another crazy goal-fest for Wolfsburg away from home! After their 5-4 victory at Leverkusen a fortnight ago, VfL again showed they’re currently the most attractive team to watch. Meanwhile, T-Online ascribed Wolfsburg's current winning streak to forward Bas Dost, who struck twice last night: "He's in the form of his life."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, meanwhile, takes a closer look at Borussia Dortmund’s four-game winning streak that has seen Jürgen Klopp’s side climb off the foot of the table to move into tenth. “Dortmund have been playing some thrilling, brave football, and they got their reward. BVB are a prime example for all sides facing the drop.” Süddeutsche Zeitung was similarly positive: “The only way is up [in the table] for BVB.”

Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking was a happy man indeed after his sides' Bremen win: "I’m very, very satisfied. Bremen got their goals far too easily and we didn’t defend well, but we managed to reply to every goal we conceded. I was impressed the team were able to put in a shift like this after the Lisbon game [where the Wolves knocked out Sporting in the Europa League in midweek]."

Sunday 1 March

If you missed any of the Bundesliga action this weekend, and you cannot wait to see the highlights right here on bundesliga.com tomorrow, we've summarised the biggest stories from Matchday 23. Find out here who celebrated in comic-book style, which club celebrated a winning birthday and who is in the running for a major award.

We've collated all the most important facts and figures to emerge from Matchday 23 and put them into one bite-sized article for your perusal. Which player cannot stop scoring? How long since Frankfurt last lost at home? Who got his first straight red card in 163 games? All the answers can be found here.

Salomon Kalou was a happy man indeed after scoring Hertha Berlin’s match-winning goal in the 1-0 success against Augsburg yesterday, securing the capital club’s first victory in three. “We will enjoy the moment,” the Ivory Coast attacker said, adding: “We were looking a lot more confident [than in the previous games] today."

Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to do without midfield dynamo Lars Bender when the Werkself take on Bundesliga 2 side 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the DFB Cup on Tuesday the club have confirmed after the Germany international bruised an ankle in Saturday’s 1-0 victory against Freiburg.

Saturday 28 February

Well, what a pivotal Saturday afternoon that could prove to be in the Bundesliga. Dortmund and Schalke served up a brilliant local derby, with die Schwarz-Gelbentaking the spoils after a triple salvo late on. Leverkusen, meanwhile, moved into the top four after beating Freiburg 1-0. Elsewhere, Hertha and Hoffenheim picked up three points, while Hannover and Stuttgart played out a tense 1-1 draw. Stay tuned for reaction to Saturday's action...

So with just an hour to go until kick-off on this sunny Saturday afternoon, here's a reminder as to where and how you can see and hear the action live. To check which television channels are broadcasting games live in your territory, click here. The Revierderby will be live on Bundesliga radio here, or alternatively find out first when the balls hit the back of the net via Twitter.

Further bad news for Borussia Dortmund on the morning of the Revierderby with Sokratis Papastathopoulos (r.) confirming via Facebook (see below) that he is going to miss out due to injury. The Greek defender was injured during the midweek UEFA Champions League defeat to Juventus and will now have to join the over 80,000 fans in the stands at the Signal Iduna Park this afternoon.

FC Bayern München head coach Pep Guardiola was once again full of smiles after Friday's 4-1 victory against Köln at the Allianz Arena. "We've beaten the second best away team in the Bundesliga," the Catalan explained. "It's really, really, really tough to score four against [Köln], so I'm really happy."

Well, the Bundesliga has already begun with a bang on Matchday 23 thanks to FC Bayern's Friday night victory! However, if you're wondering where you can catch the rest of the weekend's action, including a Revierderby which is set to be a thriller, then bundesliga.com has rounded up where and when you can watch some of Germany's best sides over the next couple of days here.

FC Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (r.) earned praise from all quarters following his heroics against Köln, with team-mate Arjen Robben (l.) particularly effusive: "It was down to Manu that we won today. Without him maybe the game would have finished differently." Click here for more post-match reaction from the Allianz Arena.

Friday 27 February

Wendt looks on the bright side

After defeat to Sevilla yesterday, Oscar Wendt of Gladbach says the club will continue pushing in the league and the DFB Cup to make sure they get back into Europe next year:

Bad result yesterday but we gave it our all!! We played a great game but unfortunatly it wasnt enough!! A BIG thank u to all our fans who traveled around Europe to give us the FANTASTIC support as u always do!! Now we focus on Bundesliga and DFB Pokal so we can have more fantastic experiances in Europe next season too!! #vielndank #thankyou #fohlenelf

Ein von Oscar Wendt (@owendt_17) gepostetes Foto am 27. Feb 2015 um 7:31 Uhr

SC Paderborn have extended the contract of injured left-back Thomas Berthels until 30 June 2016. "We're really pleased," said the club's sporting director Michael Born. "We hope he'll be back to full fitness soon." 28-year-old Berthels has made just one appearance in the Bundesliga due to a long-term foot problem.

Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka says Gladbach have got a taste for European football after going out of the Europa League to Sevilla and now want to qualify for next season's Champions League more than ever. The third-placed Foals face SC Paderborn on Sunday afternoon.

There was joy for VfL Wolfsburg, but sorrow for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the UEFA Europa League last night. The Wolves will find out in just a few hours what their reward is for eliminating Sporting Clube de Portugal while the Foals can at least now focus all of their efforts on qualifying for the UEFA Champions League next term, starting with Sunday's visit of SC Paderborn.

Thursday 26 February

Kalou and Heitinga in the frame for Hertha

This weekend is a big one for Hertha Berlin and Salomon Kalou. The Ivorian international is yet to score since winning the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, and will be hoping for his first goal since Matchday 14 when Augsburg visit the capital on Saturday. The Berliners will have their work cut out agains the high-flying Bavarians, but will hope to have Dutch defender John Heitinga back.

My boy Heitinga #ex_ajax #amsterdam #feyenoord #rotterdam #netherland #JohnHeitinga #hertha_Bsc

Ein von Salomon Kalou (@salomonkalou) gepostetes Foto am 26. Feb 2015 um 8:51 Uhr

Javi Martinez has become the third FC Bayern player to resume light training in a matter of days after the Spanish international was spotted doing some light jogging at the club's Säbener Straße complex on Thursday afternoon. Martinez, 26, has not featured for Pep Guardiola's side since injuring cruciate knee ligaments in the Supercup defeat to Borussia Dortmund in August last year.

It's not hard to see where BVB head coach Jürgen Klopp is coming from, although the Royal Blues have not had the best of results of late. Of their five league matches since the turn of the year, Roberto Di Matteo's side have won just two - both by a 1-0 scoreline - drawn two and lost one. Indeed, the only game involving die Knappen in 2015 in which one team has scored more than once was the Champions League last 16 first-leg tie against Real Madrid.

Dortmund star Marco Reus has been talking exclusively to bundesliga.com ahead of Saturday's Revierderby with Dortmund's bitter rivals Schalke 04. The 25-year-old explains what the mother of all derbies means to BVB's players and fans, opened up about his recent contract extension and shared his thoughts on BVB's rich vein of form. Click here for the full interview...

A frightening prospect indeed, but that's exactly what Pep Guardiola just told the media at his pre-match press conference ahead of Friday's home game with 1. FC Köln. Asked if he had learned anything from FC Bayern's recent 8-0 and 6-0 victories over Hamburger SV and SC Paderborn 07 respectively, the Catalan simply said: "That we can play better, particularly over 90 minutes."

Translation: I'm up for it

Insatiable appetite

The weekend's action begins in Munich, though, where in-form def

Hosts Dortmund approach the fixture on the back of three consecutive Bundesliga wins, while the Royal Blues have the opportunity to make it derby double. Take a look at this handy infographic to find out how the Ruhrpott neighbours have fared since locking horns at the Veltins Arena back on Matchday 6.

Coal Vs. Steel

It's Germany's most passionate football derby, but where did the rivalry between Schalke and Dortmund begin? Join us as we find out courtesy of the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel...