BERLIN - Schalke 04 and Augsburg's hopes of reaching next season's Champions League suffered a setback on Sunday after their goalless Bundesliga draw in Bavaria.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar missed four chances for Schalke in the goalless draw at Augsburg
Roberto di Matteo's Schalke remain fifth in the German league, eight points behind fourth-placed Leverkusen, with the top four in Germany's top flight qualifying for next season's Champions League and only seven games left.
Sixth-placed Augsburg are a point behind Schalke and are also destined to play in the Europa League next season alongside Di Matteo's Royal Blues if they keep their current place.
Both sides had their chances at Augsburg's SGL Arena with Schalke's Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar squandering four chances, while Augsburg's Argentine striker Raul Bobadilla had four of his sides 20 shots on Schalke's goal.
On Saturday, Robert Lewandowski scored against his ex-club Borussia Dortmund to seal league leaders' Bayern Munich's 1-0 win which keeps them on course for a third Bundesliga title.
Lewandowski's 35th-minute header clinched Bayern's win which left them ten points clear at the top of the table.
Their victory underlines Bayern's domination in Germany and came without injured stars David Alaba, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, while Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger limped off with an ankle injury and is doubtful for Wednesday's German Cup quarter-final at Bayer Leverkusen.
Dortmund's best chance was when Marco Reus' second-half free-kick was superbly saved by Manuel Neuer as Borussia suffered their first league defeat since the start of February.
- Bayer, Gladbach post big wins -
Earlier, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen posted big wins as the battle for third-place, and an automatic Champions League spot, intensifies.
Third-placed Gladbach enjoyed an impressive 4-1 comeback win at Hoffenheim which keeps them two-points clear of Leverkusen, who posted a 4-0 win at home to over hapless Hamburg.
Hosts Hoffenheim took the lead at home to Gladbach when forward Sven Schipplock enjoyed a simple tap-in on 17 minutes, but Gladbach proved their mettle with three goals in ten first-half minutes as winger Patrick Herrmann scored twice.
Fourth-placed Leverkusen also underlined their Champions League pedigree by putting Hamburg to the sword and are currently on course for a play-off place.
With the team third from bottom and on course for a first relegation from Germany's top flight, Hamburg sacked Joe Zinnbauer ten days ago, but his successor Peter Knaebel could only watch as his team was thrashed as Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kiessling both scored twice for Leverkusen.
Second-placed Wolfsburg remain seven points clear of Gladbach with a 3-1 win at home to bottom VfB Stuttgart.
Swiss midfielder Ricardo Rodriguez converted a penalty and a free-kick either side of half-time before ex-Chelsea winger Andre Schuerrle came off the bench to add their third.
Freiburg find themselves three-points clear of the relegation zone after their 1-0 win at home to Cologne while Hanover dropped to just above the bottom three with a 2-2 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Hanover's Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan rescued his team with a late equaliser, his first for the north German club since his six month sojourn at Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad Jeddah.