BERLIN - Second-placed Wolfsburg were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by mid-table Mainz on Sunday which leaves runaway German league leaders Bayern Munich poised to extend their huge points advantage.
Mainz' midfielder Yunus Malli (L) tries to score during the German first division Bundesliga football match FSV Mainz 05 vs VfL Wolfsburg in Mainz, central Germany, on March 22, 2015
Pep Guardiola's Bayern host fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach at the Allinanz Arena later on Sunday and a 12th win from 13 home league matches this season would leave the Bavarian giants 13 points clear.
Mainz took a shock seventh-minute lead against Wolfsburg when defender Niko Bungert out-jumped the Wolfsburg defence to head home from a corner.
The hosts looked to have doubled their lead but Japan striker Shinji Okazaki's 40th-minute strike was ruled offside.
Wolfsburg made their possession count as Brazil midfielder Luiz Gustavo hit the post, then scored their equaliser on 61 minutes.
The result left Wolfsburg 10 points adrift of Bayern.
On Saturday, Germany winger Karim Bellarabi fired Bayer Leverkusen into the Bundesliga's top three with a 1-0 win at Schalke 04.
Having bowed out of the Champions League after suffering the heartbreak of a penalty shoot-out defeat to Atletico Madrid in the last 16, Leverkusen leap-frogged Gladbach into third in Germany's top flight.
Bellarabi, who has been linked to Arsenal, grabbed the 35th-minute winner from the tightest of angles with a superb shot across goal.
Schalke coach Roberto di Matteo was bitterly disappointed as the defeat left his side five points from a possible Champions League place for next season.
- Borussia bounce back -
Borussia Dortmund also bounced back from their mid-week Champions League exit with a 3-2 win at 10-man Hanover to earn their first victory in four games.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted twice as Dortmund picked up valuable league points after goalless draws against Hamburg and Cologne.
Borussia took the lead through Aubameyang on 19 minutes, but Hanover hit back when Lars Stindl's weak shot beat the visitors' defence.
Dortmund captain Mats Hummels then headed off the line, but the game turned on 55 minutes when ex-Dortmund midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt was sent off for a second yellow card and Borussia made the numerical advantage.
Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa netted his first league goal since September on 57 minutes, then set up Aubameyang for his second goal on 61 minutes before Stindl made it 3-2 with eight minutes left.
The win left Borussia tenth with Hanover 14th and two points from relegation.
Bremen stay ninth after being held to a 1-1 draw at mid-table Cologne as a first-half goal by Germany Under-19 striker Davie Selke for the visitors was cancelled out by an 88th-minute penalty from Cologne midfielder Matthias Lehmann.
Freiburg climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-0 win at home to Augsburg thanks to second-half goals from Jonathan Schmid and Nils Petersen.
Paderborn stay second-from-bottom after their goalless draw at home to ten-man Hoffenheim, who had Bosnia defender Ermin Bicakcic sent off for a second yellow card.
VfB Stuttgart remain rooted to the foot of the table despite their 3-1 comeback win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The result means just two points separate the bottom four teams of Stuttgart, Freiburg, Paderborn and Hamburg in Germany's top flight.