For those who thought the Bundesliga was over just because Bayern Munich picked up their 19th title last weekend, think again. Felix Magath’s team may be the champions and Volker Finke’s Freiburg may have been relegated, but there are still some important league positions to play for both at the top and the bottom of the Bundesliga.

Newly-crowned champions Bayern rounded off their title charge in fine form last Saturday with a 4-0 rout of Kaiserslautern but they were beaten in the high scoring stakes by their opponents this week. FSV Mainz 05 ran riot over a woeful VfL Bochum in the Ruhrstadion to record a massive 6-2 away win that secured their place in the top flight for another season.

With the job done in both Munich and Mainz, both teams could see the season out playing for pride. Mainz are safe but are way off the pace for the European places where the battle still rages.

Competition for European places gets fierce

One of the crucial clashes of the weekend in that respect is the Sunday game between Borussia Dortmund and dethroned champions Werder Bremen. Earlier in the campaign it looked as though Dortmund would be battling relegation come May but after picking themselves up since the winter break, the players of BVB have turned their season around and are angling for a UEFA Cup slot.

Bremen, however, have not only seen their title head south but also their chances of a Champions League place. While still in the hunt for third spot, Werder are two points behind VfB Stuttgart, the current holders of the last coveted place. Last week’s 3-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld may give the ex-champions some confidence but they face a Dortmund side willing their way towards respectability.

Stuttgart in danger of underachievement

Stuttgart caused their coach Matthias Sammer to blow a fuse last week as they crumbled to a 2-0 reverse to relegation candidates Borussia Mönchengladbach, throwing their own Champions League credentials into doubt. VfB could be in danger of becoming a team of underachievers after three seasons of great promise with little to show for their efforts so far.

A good win over Hanover 96 on Saturday would go some way to steady the nerves and get back on course. Hanover beat Nuremberg 1-0 last week and with a comfortable mid-table finish secure, their thoughts must be turning to next season. The onus therefore will be on Stuttgart to perform and get an important win with second placed Schalke 04 only two points ahead.

Schalke fighting off queue of usurpers

Schalke’s title dream ended three weeks ago but was confirmed with the 3-3 draw with Bayer Leverkusen last week which allowed Bayern to disappear into the distance carrying the championship shield.

The season is not over for Ralph Rangnick’s Royal Blues, however. A DFB Cup final against Bayern beckons and the fight will continue to hang onto the runners-up spot and a Champions League place. Schalke travel to Arminia Bielefeld with nothing less than victory in mind, with defeat carrying its own consequences with a queue of teams lining up behind them to hijack the second berth.

Mid-tablers breathe easy above frantic drop zone

Bielefeld are another team who will go through the motions in the last three games. With a ten point cushion over the relegation zone, they will be looking to the coming season, hoping to improve on their current 12th place.

One place above them lie Kaiserslautern who travel to the depressed home of the only officially relegated team, SC Freiburg, on Saturday.

It could have easily been a contest between two teams heading for the second league after Kaiserslautern’s early run of bad form which saw them prop up the division for weeks as they struggled to free themselves from the drop zone. Now safely in 11th, Kaiserslautern can breathe easy.

Rostock and Bochum praying for miracles

Unlike Hansa Rostock and VfL Bochum who find themselves fighting each other to get out of the last two relegation places. With nine points up for grabs and with both teams on 29 -- six points behind Borussia Mönchengladbach in the last safe place --the fate of these teams rest solely with the gods. If they both win at the weekend, and keep winning, they will still be at the mercy of Gladbach’s results.

Bochum take on Nuremberg, who themselves could still be caught out if they lose all their remaining games and Bochum and Rostock win all theirs. Hansa play Bayer Leverkusen who will be looking to close the five point gap on Stuttgart in third in the vain hope of a Champions League spot but will probably see the fight for the UEFA Cup as their more realistic target for the season’s end.

Leverkusen, Berlin, Hamburg up for UEFA Cup

To get to that coveted third spot, Bayer will have to jump over Werder Bremen and Hertha Berlin, who blew their own Champions League chance at the weekend by losing 2-1 to Rostock. Berlin have been flying of late and with Marcelinho dragging the rest of the team kicking and screaming towards Europe’s premier cup competition, a Champions League campaign next year looked a good bet.

It is still there for the taking – Hertha are just two points behind Stuttgart and level on points with Bremen – but winning against VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday is imperative if they are to make it.

Wolfsburg themselves have swapped the heady heights of the title race for the battle for the UEFA Cup. After leading the league for a number of weeks mid-season, the Wolves have slipped to ninth and are now the outside bet for the last UEFA Cup slot. Beating Hamburg SV 1-0 last Saturday helped their cause but they must hope for the gods and mathematicians to help them out if they are to overturn a six point deficit in the race for that last passport to Europe.

HSV turn disaster into respectibility

Hamburg SV have turned around a desperate season to challenge for the Champions League. Basement dwellers for a good part of the first half of the season, the Hamburgers have climbed steadily and had third place in their sights until last weekend.

Now five points behind Stuttgart, HSV hold the last UEFA Cup place in seventh with Dortmund breathing down their necks. They can slash the deficit if they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday and add more worry lines to Dick Advocaat’s furrowed brow as Gladbach hover precariously above the drop zone.