Bayern look to consolidate
Bayern Munich will be looking to cement or even extend their newly gained place at the top of the Bundesliga this weekend as second and third-placed Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke snap at their heels.
A scorcher of a goal from French striker Franck Ribery was enough for Bayern to beat fourth-placed Hamburg 1-0 last Sunday and take the Bavarian giants top for the first time since winning the title in 2008.
Leverkusen, who had been neck-and-neck with Bayern for a month and just ahead on goal difference, were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Cologne -- Bayern's opponents on Saturday.
"We expected Leverkusen to slip up, of course, and they did us the favour," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
Bayern will travel to Cologne without Argentinian defender Martin Demichelis, out for three weeks after colliding with Michael Ballack's knee in Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Germany. He has multiple facial fractures.
Leverkusen and Gernany goalkeeper Rene Adler will be keen to keep a clean sheet as his team take on second-from-bottom Nuremberg away on Sunday, after his disastrous slip-up led to Argentina's only goal on Wednesday.
The other main contender for the Bundesliga title is third-placed Schalke, four points behind Bayern and two points shy of Leverkusen. The next-closest, Hamburg, are 12 adrift of the leaders Bayern.
Schalke, with one defeat in their last 10 games, travel to seventh-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Fixtures
Saturday
(1430 GMT unless otherwise stated)
Cologne v Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen v VfB Stuttgart, Hamburg v Hertha Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt v Schalke, Freiburg v Hanover, VfL Wolfsburg v VfL Bochum, Borussia Dortmund v Borussia M'gladbach (1730 GMT)
Sunday
Nuremberg v Bayer Leverkusen (1430 GMT), Hoffenheim v Mainz (1630 GMT)
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