Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund were held 1-1 by 10-man Fortuna Dusseldorf on Tuesday and are in danger of falling 11 points behind leaders Bayern Munich into their weekend showdown.
Jakub Blaszczykowski volleyed Dortmund ahead late in the first half but Dusseldorf fought to a 79th-minute equalizer from Stefan Reisinger and overcame a late sending off of Ivan Paurevic.
Dortmund have 26 points, while Munich are on 34 ahead of their trip to mid-table Freiburg on Wednesday. If Munich win, they will be assured of the unofficial winter title three rounds ahead of the halfway mark of the season and hibernate in first place.
Dortmund visit Munich on Saturday and stayed second being because Schalke and Eintracht Frankfurt (24 points each) also lost, 3-1 in Hamburg and 3-1 at home against Mainz, respectively. But Bayer Leverkusen (24) can go second if they win in Bremen on Wednesday.
Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp rested some players including Mario Goetze and Mats Hummels for the Munich showdown which backfired against promoted Dusseldorf.
"We didn't press enough. We didn't have many scoring chances, that's bad. It was a lucky point for Dusseldorf overall, but they were good on the counter late in the game," Klopp told Sky TV.
Blaszczykowski broke the deadlock in the 42nd when he volleyed high into the net after a one-two with Kevin Grosskreutz.
Dusseldorf improved after the break and Reisinger nodded the equalizer off Robbie Kruse's cross. Paurevic got his marching orders for a second bookable offence in the 88th but the visitors escaped with the draw as they moved to 14th with 15 points.
Schalke are winless in three games after the setback in Hamburg, who won despite the injury-related absence of playmaker Rafael van der Vaart and top scorer Son Heung Min.
Maximilian Beister smashed home the opening goal with a 20m drive in the 52nd and Artjoms Rudnevs made it 2-0 in the 65th from short range. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar raised Schalke's hopes in the 80th on the rebound of his penalty saved by Rene Adler, but Milan Badelj converted a stoppage time spot kick on the other end to seal victory.
Frankfurt appear to have run out of steam with just one victory in their last six games after six wins in the opening eight.
Teenager Shawn Parker set up Andreas Ivanschitz for Mainz' first in the 18th and got the second himself in the 42nd before Nikolce Noveski headed the vistors' third in the 52nd. Frankfurt scored in the following minute from an own goal by Adam Szalai and Mainz had Stefan Baumgartlinger sent off late.
Mainz and Hamburg improved to 20 points, and so did Hanover who beat second-bottom Greuther Fuerth 2-0 from Mame Diouf and Mario Eggimann.
The Wednesday games apart from Freiburg v Munich and Bremen v Leverkusen are Stuttgart v bottom club Augsburg, Moenchengladbach v Wolfsburg and Nuremberg v Hoffenheim.
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