Gerald Asamoah, Ivan Rakitic and Marcelo Bordon were on the scoresheet as Schalke climbed into second place in the Bundesliga behind new champions Bayern Munich.

Mike Buskens' side collected their third victory in four games in the process, putting them on 58 points - one point ahead of Werder Bremen and seven points better off than Hamburg - both of whom play on Wednesday.

Rock-bottom Hansa Rostock need a miracle to remain in the Bundesliga after losing 3-0 at Hannover.

Hanno Balitsch opened the scoring for the hosts after 19 minutes while Jan Rosenthal made it 2-0 in the 47th minute before grabbing his second goal of the night three minutes from time.

The defeat is Rostock's fourth in succession and leaves them mired at the foot of the standings on 27 points. Their relegation from the German top flight will be all but confirmed if 15th-placed Arminia Bielefeld avoid defeat against Bayern on Wednesday.

Borussia Dortmund ended Stuttgart's hopes of reaching the Champions League and damaged their UEFA Cup hopes with a 3-2 win at the Westfalen Stadium.

Tinga put the home side ahead after 35 minutes before Mario Gomez equalised against the run of play 10 minutes into the second half.

A brace from Alexander Frei then put Dortmund in the driving seat, but they were made to sweat when Gomez pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute.

In Tuesday's final game, Energie Cottbus moved a step closer to safety by earning a point from their 1-1 draw at Karlsruhe.

Stiven Rivic opened the scoring for Cottbus in the 60th minute only to see Stefan Buck equalise for Karlsruhe five minutes later.