Bayern hot-shot Gomez gunning for third

Bundesliga top-scorer Mario Gomez says finishing third in the German league is Bayern Munich's sole goal now as the race continues to settle the Champions League places for next season.

After Borussia Dortmund were confirmed as champions last weekend and with Bayer Leverkusen set to finish second, the automatic Champions League places are virtually decided with the season set to finish on May 14.

A third-placed finish means a place in the play-offs to earn a place in European football's top competition and Bayern are determined to win their last two games of the season to claim their berth.

Bayern are at Hamburg-based St Pauli on Saturday and Gomez is looking to add to his tally of 24 goals in 30 league games as he has scored five in the last three matches.

"Finishing in third place is now like winning the German championship for us this season," said Gomez with Bayern set to face a tricky afternoon in Hamburg.

This is St Pauli's last home league game of the season and coach Holger Stanislawski's last in charge before he moves to join Hoffenheim next season after 18 years at the club.

St Pauli are virtually guaranteed to be relegated as they are six points from safety with a vastly inferior goal difference with just two games left, but Bayern's scalp would mean they would go down with some glory.

Bayern's main rivals for third are Hanover and their Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan is backing his side to clinch third place.

Hanover are fourth, just two points behind Bayern and have already secured a Europa League berth.

The 26-year-old says his team wants more as they prepare to face VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

"Bayern may well lose the game and if they do, then we'll be there," said Ya Konan, Hanover's top-scorer with 13 goals from 26 games this season.

After this weekend, Hanover face mid-table Nuremberg while Bayern host Stuttgart on the last day of the season.

Having only returned to training on Wednesday after securing the league title last Saturday, Dortmund are at Werder Bremen.

Jurgen Klopp and his squad partied into the small hours of last Sunday and trained in front of 1,000 fans when they finally returned to training.

At the bottom of the table, 2009 champions Wolfsburg are just one point away from the bottom three and coach Felix Magath is desperate for another win against Kaiserlautern.

There will be a relegation battle royal at Eintracht Frankfurt against Cologne with both sides needing points.

Frankfurt's 3-0 defeat to Mainz last weekend saw a group of 200 fans stone the team coach and police advised the club to train in secrecy to avoid inciting more anger from their supporters.

Frankfurt are 16th, which could mean a play-off with the side third in the second division, while Cologne are just four points above them.

Fixtures (Saturday):

Schalke 04 v Mainz 05, Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen v Hamburg, VfB Stuttgart v Hanover 96, VfL Wolfsburg v Kaiserslautern, Eintracht Frankfurt v Cologne, Borussia M'gladbach v Freiburg, Nuremberg v Hoffenheim, St. Pauli v Bayern Munich