The race for the Bundesliga is hotting up as Bayern Munich, Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen all facing tricky away games.

Schalke have established themselves as the Bundesliga's second force thanks to their win over Stuttgart while Leverkusen responded with a 4-2 triumph over Hamburg.

And they are Schalke's opponents this weekend as the Royal Blues enter what their goalkeeper Manuel Neuer insists will be the fortnight which will either make or break their season.

"We should only start to talk about it (the title) when we have the tough games behind us at the end of March," he said.

"We can all remember 2007 when the euphoria got so great, yet we did not finish top in the end."

Schalke travel to Hamburg this Sunday before heading to Leverkusen next weekend and hosting Bayern Munich in what could turn out to be a decisive fixture seven days later.

Bayern head to Eintracht Frankfurt this Saturday while Leverkusen will come up against not only 11 opponents, but over 80,000 fans helping to plot their downfall at Borussia Dortmund's Westfalen Stadion.

With those three clubs fighting it out for the main piece of silverware, the consolation of a place in the Europa League is currently occupying the minds of northern Germany rival Hamburg and Werder Bremen.

HSV currently have a single-point advantage over Bremen in fifth position, but they could find themselves down in sixth position before hosting Schalke on Sunday.

That is because Bremen are first up on Saturday against struggling Bochum, despite being in action in the Europa League against Valencia less than 48 hours previously.

Behind them, Mainz, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart may still be harbouring outside chances of breaking into the top five while sixth position may even be enough for a place in Europe next season, should Bremen win the DFB-Pokal and finish in the top five.

Mainz head to Freiburg, Wolfsburg host Hertha Berlin, who would be practically relegated in the event of defeat, and Stuttgart host another struggler in Hannover.

The first game this weekend is the derby between Cologne and Borussia Monchengladbach with both sides still not fully sure of their future in the top flight.

Finally, Nurnberg host Hoffenheim on Saturday looking for three points to keep their heads above water at the bottom.