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Football pundits for German SKY are seen broadcasting pitch side prior to the German first division Bundesliga football match BVB Borussia Dortmund vs FC Bayern Munich in Dortmund, western Germany on May 4, 2013. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
BERLIN - The battle to stay in the Bundesliga is set to go to the wire after relegation-threatened Augsburg lost 2-0 at Freiburg on Sunday.
Augsburg are one of four teams fighting to stay in Germany’s top tier with just two games left.
Goals by Congo’s Cedrick Makiadi and Jonathan Schmid left Freiburg sixth, good enough to qualify for next season’s Europa League, but leaves Augsburg in terrible trouble.
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Augsburg are 16th in the league, which means a relegation/play-off clash over two legs against the team who finish third in the second division at the end of the season.
Bottom side Greuther Fuerth, who earned a shock 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, have already been relegated, but will be joined by one more team, either Hoffenheim, Augsburg, Fortuna Duesseldorf or Werder Bremen.
Hoffenheim, second from bottom, are two points from safety after substitute Sven Schipplock scored twice in the last six minutes to rescue a point in the 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen, who are three points above the danger zone.
Duesseldorf, 15th, are level with Augsburg on points after their 3-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Augsburg have the unenviable task of playing at Bayern Munich next Saturday, when the champions will lift the Bundesliga shield, before hosting Fuerth.
Next weekend, Hoffenheim host Hamburg, then travel to Dortmund on the final matchday, while Werder are home to Frankfurt, who are bidding for a Champions League place, then travel to Nuremberg.
Duesseldorf have arguably the easiest run in as they face mid-table opposition in Nuremberg away, then face Hanover 96 at home.
On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund ended ten-man Bayern’s 14-match winning streak as the warm-up for the Champions League final ended in a 1-1 draw.
Both sides fielded just a handful of first-choice players set to start the Wembley final on May 25 — six from Dortmund and four from Bayern.
Bayern had already been crowned Bundesliga champions four weeks ago and the point confirmed Dortmund finish second.
An early goal by Dortmund wing Kevin Grosskreutz was cancelled out when Mario Gomez was left unmarked at the far post on 23 minutes and the Germany star headed Munich level.
Dortmund had a second-half penalty saved when Robert Lewandowski’s shot was blocked by Manuel Neuer with an hour gone, but Bayern were reduced to 10 men for the final 25 minutes when right-back Rafinha was sent off.
During his tussle down the right with Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski, the Brazilian thrust his elbow up into the Poland captain’s face for a straight red.
Blaszczykowski was also shown a yellow for remonstrating with the referee, while a heated discussion flared up on the sidelines between Bayern’s director of sport Matthias Sammer and Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen sealed automatic qualification for the Champions League with a 2-0 win at Nuremberg.
Schalke 04 closed in on the Champions League qualifying rounds with a 1-0 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday which kept them fourth.
