Japan midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake again shone in Nuremberg's 2-1 win over Mainz 05 on Sunday as they extended their nine-match unbeaten run on the weekend Bayern Munich were finally crowned German champions.
Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger's second-half goal at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday gave Bayern their 24th league win in 28 games to win the Bundesliga title for the 22nd time with an insurmountable 20-point lead and six games left.
It is their 23rd national title overall, with the Munich club also winning the old-style German championship in 1932 and was Bayern's first silverware since May 2010.
Having won the earliest confirmed title in Bundesliga history, the Bavarians are looking to become the first German club to win the treble of league, cup and Champions League titles.
They face Juventus in Wednesday's quarter-final second leg holding a 2-0 lead from last week's first leg in Munich.
Having flirted with the relegation places, Bayern's Bavarian neighbours Nuremberg are up to ninth after their Sweden defender Per Nilsson scored twice from set pieces on Sunday with Kiyotake a constant threat to the Mainz defence.
The 23-year-old has had four assists and scored once in his last four games and his second-half free-kick was hit home by Nilsson for Nuremberg's first goal, while the Japan star won the corner from which Nilsson claimed his second.
Midfielder Nicolai Mueller equalised on 60 minutes for Mainz, whose Hungary striker Adam Szalai missed a first-half penalty, but Nuremberg deserved their third win in four games.
Their run stretches over two months, having last lost to Dortmund in January, and with six games left are just four points from the Europa League places, but face Bayern at Munich's Allianz Arena on Saturday.
It was Mainz's first defeat since they went down 3-0 at home to Bayern at the start of February.
Dortmund host Malaga in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg after the first leg finished 0-0, and Juergen Klopp's side had to come from behind to beat Augsburg 4-2 on Saturday at the Signal Iduna Park.
Goalkeeper Roman Wiedenfeller, striker Robert Lewandowski, captain Sebastian Kehl and star attacking duo Mario Goetze and Marco Reus were all left out of the starting line-up.
Reserve striker Julian Schieber needed just 22 minutes to score the opening goal against Ausgburg, who are locked in a battle with Hoffenheim -- 3-0 winners against Duesseldorf on Friday -- to avoid automatic relegation.
Augsburg went ahead with two goals in 80 seconds just before the half-time break, but Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp responded by bringing on Lewandowski and Goetze early in the second half.
The changes had an immediate impact, as Lewandowski put Hofmann away on the right wing to square for Schieber to equalise with his second of the day on 52 minutes.
The Poland star then netted in the 92nd minute to extend the club record of having scored in his last 10 league games.
Bayer Leverkusen remain third after their 1-1 draw at home to Wolfsburg while Schalke hold fourth after their 2-0 win at Werder Bremen and Moenchengladbach moved up to sixth with a 1-0 win at home to bottom side Fuerth.
Hamburg missed the chance to get back amongst the top six -- and the European places -- when they lost 1-0 at home to Freiburg on Saturday night.
Source: AFP
