PREVIEW: Bayern need Schalke help in Bundesliga battle

Bayern Munich will be hoping for some help from Schalke 04 in their bid to salvage something from a season which will leave them without a title.

   Both clubs are now looking for new coaches, with Schalke now rudderless following the decision to sack coach and manager Felix Magath.

   Schalke visit second-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday with co-trainer Seppo Eichkorn temporarily in charge, while Bayern must bounce back from a bitterly disappointing Champions League exit to Inter Milan as they travel to seventh-placed Freiburg Saturday.

   Bayern coach Louis van Gaal will remain in charge until the end of the season as the club hopes at least to rescue a Champions League spot for next season - but they are seven points behind Leverkusen and two adrift of third-placed Hanover in the Bundesliga.

    Leverkusen will also need a new coach if Jupp Heynckes does not renew his contract and instead succeed Van Gaal at Bayern. Bayern's visit also follows a tough trip for Leverkusen to Villarreal Thursday to rescue their Europa League hopes after the Spanish side won the first leg 3-2.

    A glimmer of hope in the title race emerged for Leverkusen last week after Borussia Dortmund slipped to defeat at Hoffenheim.

   Juergen Klopp's side will have to be on their guard their nine-point lead at the top is not reduced further when they welcome fifth-placed Mainz Saturday.

   Magath's sacking at Schalke on Wednesday followed complaints by the players to supervisory board chairman Clemens Toennies.

   Captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said he had a good relationship with Magath but some players had approached him and the players' committee about their concerns.

   "We couldn't clear up all the problems," he said.

   Toennies said he had held "frank talks" with Magath after he had been approached by the players, but after another meeting with the players' committee it appeared the problems were getting worse.

   "So I had another discussion with Magath. It was quite an argument between the two of us. I told him: 'Schalke 04 doesn't work like that! You have to approach people and take them with you. You are losing this team - at least on the inside,' Toennies explained.

   The mood at Bayern was just as glum following Tuesday's Champions League 3-2 defeat at home to Inter, who had rallied from 2-1 down to hit a late winner.

   Bayern's task now is to finish at least third to earn a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. With next year's final in Munich, Bayern are desperate not to miss out on the competition.

   "It's still wide open, but it won't be easy against Freiburg, especially after you've had a shock like yesterday's. We're in a difficult and critical position," captain Philipp Lahm said a day after the exit.

"A number of us have played in the UEFA Cup and the Europa League, but don't want to again," he added.

   "We all want to contest the Champions League. That's our motivation, but Bayern would normally be competing for more than just a Champions League qualifying place."

   Hanover meanwhile welcome Hoffenheim hoping to recover from a 4-0 defeat last week at Cologne who are at SV Hamburg, while the rest of the programme features teams in relegation danger. Only three points separate second-last Wolfsburg from 12th-placed Werder Bremen.

   Bottom club Borussia Moenchengladbach - three points adrift - greet fifth-last Kaiserslautern Friday, and in matches Saturday, Eintracht Frankfurt, after nine games without a win, take on fellow strugglers St Pauli, and Bremen visit sixth-placed Nuremberg.

   On Sunday, Wolfsburg visit VfB Stuttgart, who are only two points ahead despite three wins in a row.