The future of Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel may be decided this weekend, and his fate lies in the hands of the club he represented for over half of his playing career.

A crisis meeting was held yesterday after Stuttgart were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by second division side Greuther Furth, and Babbel earned a stay of execution.

But he knows he must beat Bayern Munich, the team he played for 182 times, on Saturday to stand any chance of holding onto his job for at least another week, even if he has not actually been set such an ultimatum.

"Markus Babbel gives us the impression that he can do it," explained the club's director of sport Horst Heldt.

"We are convinced that he will get the team out of the crisis. There is no deadline for him."

Stuttgart have slumped to 14th in the Bundesliga on the back of five defeats in their last six games while Bayern, who have just emerged from a crisis of their own, will be looking to move even closer to the top of the table with a third straight league win.

Bayern are currently four points adrift of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg, three behind Werder Bremen and two below Schalke.

And something is bound to change at the top this weekend since Schalke and Leverkusen meet on Saturday evening.

By then, Hamburg will have had the chance to move three points clear by defeating struggling Borussia Monchengladbach.

Bremen, meanwhile, head to Nurnberg looking to extend an enviable run of 16 games without defeat in all competitions.

Their last loss dates back to August 8, when they went down 3-2 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on the opening day of the season. Since then, they have won 12 and drawn four.

Whatever happens in tomorrow night's first Bundesliga fixture of the weekend in Dortmund, Hertha Berlin will remain at the foot of the table as they trail a quartet of clubs by four points.

That group looking to move away from danger includes Bochum, who travel to Frankfurt on Sunday, as well as Stuttgart, Monchengladbach and Nurnberg.

Elsewhere this weekend, defending champions Wolfsburg entertain Mainz and Cologne host Hannover on Saturday while Hoffenheim make the short trip to Freiburg on Sunday.