Bundesliga wrap: Schalke earn Champions League berth

28 April 2012 18:55

Schalke sealed an automatic Champions League place in the Bundesliga on Saturday as champions Borussia Dortmund impressed again.

A brace from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar saw Schalke secure third spot with a 4-0 thrashing of relegation battlers Hertha Berlin in Gelsenkirchen.

Borussia Moenchengladbach's chances of finishing third were ended after they were held to a 0-0 draw by struggling Augsburg, but they are guaranteed a spot in the Champions League qualifying stages.

Schalke took the lead just after the half-hour at Veltins-Arena through Dutchman Huntelaar, but were forced to wait until the final 20 minutes to seal the win.

Lewis Holtby doubled their lead on 73 minutes, with Raul and Huntelaar netting in the final six minutes.

Dortmund tied a Bundesliga record for points in a season as they earned a 5-2 win at Kaiserslautern.

The win, which came largely thanks to a Lucas Barrios hat-trick, lifted the champions' tally to 78 points, equalling Bayern Munich's record from 1998/99.

Brazilian defender Felipe Santana gave the hosts a 16th-minute lead with an own goal, but a header and a tap-in from Barrios put Dortmund ahead, with Mario Gotze adding another before half-time.

Pierre de Wit pulled a goal back for Kaiserslautern with a looping header over Australian goalkeeper Mitch Langerak, but Dortmund again took control with Barrios completing his treble and Ivan Perisic curling in a fifth.

Champions League finalists Bayern Munich continued their fine form, beating Stuttgart 2-0 thanks to goals from Mario Gomez and Thomas Mueller.

Bayer Leverkusen secured a Europa League place after Stefan Kiessling's 75th-minute goal saw them to a 1-0 win at home to Hannover.

Cologne will finish no higher than the relegation playoff spot after slumping to a 4-1 loss at Freiburg.

Mensur Mujdza, Karim Guede, Daniel Caligiuri and Sebastian Freis were on the scoresheet for the winners, while Lukas Podolski briefly equalised just after the break for Cologne.

Patrick Helmes' late brace helped Wolfsburg to a 3-1 win at home to Werder Bremen.

Hamburg and Mainz played out a 0-0 draw at the Imtech Arena, while Nuremberg overcame Hoffenheim 3-2.