This weekend saw a potentially pivotal round of matches in the Bundesliga as Borussia Dortmund were the only top-four side to record a victory.

Gabriel Tan

Dortmund kicked things off on Friday and while they initially struggled to break down a stubborn Nuremberg side, goals from Sebastian Kehl and Lucas Barrios eventually handed the defending champions all three points.

And that proved extremely important come Saturday as Bayern Munich and Schalke were both held to 1-1 draws by Hamburg and Mainz respectively, while fourth-placed Borussia Monchengladbach played out a 0-0 draw at Wolfsburg.

Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart played out a thrilling 2-2 draw on Saturday, as did Freiburg and Werder Bremen a day later, while Cologne arrested their recent poor run of form with a 1-0 victory at Kaiserslautern.

With Bayern, Schalke and Gladbach all off-colour over the weekend, let's see if any of their players make it to this edition of ESPNSTAR.com's Bundesliga Team of the Week.

GK: Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover)

Hannover picked up a valuable win at Hertha Berlin to keep their continental qualification hopes alive, and while it was Mohammed Abdellaoue who netted the only goal of the game, Die Roten have Zieler to thank for ensuring their hosts did not grab a share of the spoils.

Hertha started the game brightly and would have taken a 12th-minute through Peter Niemeyer if not for a spectacular save from German international.

And with Euro 2012 just around the corner, Zieler did his prospects of being selected for the German national team no harm with a commanding performance, regularly claiming high balls with ease.

RB: Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund)

On a night where Dortmund struggled to break down the Nuremberg defence, it was Piszczek who made the breakthrough on Friday night, breaking down the right and cutting the ball back for Kehl to smash home.

The Polish fullback was a threat all night long, regularly bombing down the right, but he was equally adept in defence, helping BVB to a well-deserved clean sheet.

CB: Sebastian Langkamp (Augsburg)

It's not often a centre-back gets to play a part in both his side's goals but that's exactly what 24-year-old Langkamp did on Saturday in Augsburg's 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim.

The adventurous defender ventured forward in the 31st minute and played a neat ball out wide to Hajime Hosogai, whose cross was turned home by Sascha Molders to put Augsburg ahead.

However, Hoffenheim hit back through goals from Peniel Mlapa and Sejad Salihovic, but just when Augsburg looked headed for 10th loss of the campaign, up stepped Langkamp in the 72nd minute to nod home Molders' corner at the far post, earning his side a welcome point away from home.

CB: Anthar Yahia (Kaiserslautern)

In a game bereft of clear goalscoring chances, Cologne looked set to take the lead against Kaiserslautern in 13th minute when the ball fell to Slawomir Peszko just four yards out. However, the Poland international failed to connect cleanly with his strike, but Yahia still showed good awareness to clear away the danger.

The Algerian international defended resolutely for much of the game, and was unlikely to be on the losing side come fulltime.

LB: Filip Daems (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Gladbach were denied all three points for the first time in 2012 on Sunday when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Wolfsburg, and much of that was done to an uncharacteristic lack of creativity in the final third.

However, the home side deserve plenty of credit for taking the game to their in-form visitors, and threatened the Gladbach goal on several occasions. Wolfsburg must have thought they had broken the deadlock when Marcel Schafer delivered a cross towards an unmarked Giovanni Sio, only to see Belgian veteran Daems put in a vital interception.

The 33-year-old defended bravely all game long and deservingly earns his second Team of the Week appearance for the season.

RM: Julian Schieber (Stuttgart)

More frequently deployed as a striker, Schieber was fielded on the right-side of midfield against Leverkusen on Saturday, and it proved to be a masterstroke Stuttgart coach Bruno Labbadia.

Schieber cancelled out Stefan Kiessling's opener for Leverkusen in the 23rd minute after he picked up the ball from a short freekick all of 30 yards out, and unleashed a fierce, low drive past the wall into the bottom corner.

Didn't seem uncomfortable playing out of position as he gave Michal Kadlec a torrid time, which eventually led to the Leverkusen left-back's dismissal after he let his frustrations get the better of him, picking up a needless second yellow.

CM: Sebastian Kehl (Borussia Dortmund)

There was a huge worry that Dortmund captain Kehl wouldn't be guaranteed a first-team spot this term, especially after he missed almost all of last season through injury, allowing Sven Bender to establish himself in the anchorman role.

However, not only has Kehl proved both he and Bender can work together in the same starting XI, but he has also showed there's plenty of life left in this old dog.

In Friday's 2-0 win over Nuremberg, Kehl was a creative force for BVB, something he's known to be capable of doing although he rarely does. A glorious through-ball to Robert Lewandowski midway through the first half nearly saw the Polish striker break the deadlock, only for Raphael Schafer to deny Dortmund. But Kehl then decided to do it on his own, finally putting his side ahead three minutes into the second half when he made a well-timed run into the box and sidefooted home from seven yards.

CM: Cedric Makiadi (Freiburg)

Freiburg remain bottom of the Bundesliga, but they picked up a much-needed point on Sunday when they drew 2-2 with Bremen.

And Makiadi was a real standout for Breisgau-Brasilianer, proving plenty of drive and creativity from the centre of the park. The midfield dynamo was almost impossible to contain, and he was not to be deterred by his dimunitive frame as he nodded home Michael Lumb's corner from three yards out to make the score 1-1 in the 32nd minute.

LM: Odise Roshi (Cologne)

Yet another young star emerges from the Bundesliga, but at least this time, he's not German!

Both hosts Kaiserslautern and Cologne had been struggling to break the deadlock for much of the game, with Slawomir Peszko missing a glorious chance in the 13th minute when he failed to connect cleanly with his shot from four yards out.

Peszko eventually made way for Roshi in the 70th minute, and the 20-year-old Albanian immediately tested Kevin Trapp with a fierce shot. From the resultant corner, Roshi leapt highest to nod home what proved to be the winner. 99 seconds after coming on, impact substitutions don't get much better than that.

ST: Mohamed Zidan (Mainz)

Zidan was a threat on Saturday against Mainz all game long, and nearly opened the scoring just before the 15th-minute mark when he sent a 30-yard freekick inches wide. Moments later, he put the visitors ahead when he meet Radoslav Zabavnik's cross with a sweet volley.that had Lars Unnerstall beaten all ends up.

Was a real handful for Kyriakos Papadopoulos, keeping Schalke's young star busy all afternoon.

ST: Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen)

The Peruvian hitman took his goal tally in the league to 15 on Sunday with a well-taken brace against Freiburg.

Gave Bremen the lead just before the half-hour mark when he showed good technique to send a right-footed volley goalwards, which went Freiburg keeper Oliver Baumann. Netted his second in the 47th minute after being played through by Mehmet Ekici, where he proceeded to poke his effort just inside the far post.

Top marks for finishing on both occasions by Pizarro.