15.03.2015 17:29 h

De Bruyne helps keep Wolfsburg solid in second

Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne helped inspire Wolfsburg to a 3-0 victory over Freiburg on Sunday as the Europa League hopefuls moved back within 11 points of leaders Bayern Munich.

The former Chelsea winger, who failed to nail down a regular place at Stamford Bridge, scored his third goal in two matches in the 19th minute before Ricardo Rodriguez put the result beyond doubt with a penalty 11 minutes from time.

Maximilian Arnold gave the scoreline a flattering look with Wolfsburg's third goal at the Volkswagen Arena with five minutes left.

Dieter Hecking's vastly improved side have lost just four times in 25 league matches and are coming off a fine 3-1 win over Inter Milan in their Europa League last-16 first leg tie on Thursday, a match in which De Bruyne struck twice.

The team are 11 points ahead of third-placed Bayer Leverkusen who cantered past Stuttgart 4-0 on Friday.

The final match of the weekend will see Borussia Moenchengladbach host Hanover later Sunday.

On Saturday, Bayern Munich put the finishing touches on a perfect week's work as they defeated Werder Bremen 4-0.

Pep Guardiola's side made it three wins in seven days, scoring 14 goals and conceding just one, as they kept up their relentless league form but also also qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals.

German international striker Thomas Mueller grabbed his fifth goal in a week with a left foot shot past Raphael Wolf to put the champions 1-0 in front on 24 minutes at the Weser-Stadion.

Austrian defender David Alaba then scored his second league goal of the season to cushion the advantage before Polish international Robert Lewandowski added the gloss with two late goals to round out the scoring.

"The team maintained total concentration throughout and did very, very well," said the Spaniard.

"After the match against Donetsk it wasn't easy adapting to new opponents, but it was one of those days when I'm so proud to be coach of this team."

Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt consolidated their place in the upper half of the table with a routine 4-0 win over third-from-bottom Paderborn.

Mainz picked up a crucial 2-0 victory over Augsburg, thanks to a distinctive Asian flavour, as they eased their relegation fears.

Shinji Okazaki added to his record as the highest Japanese scorer in Bundesliga history, with the opener on 32 minutes, before former South Korea captain Koo Ja-cheol guaranteed the points in the final minute.

Hertha Berlin missed the chance for three valuable points as they were deprived victory in the final minute by a Joel Matip equaliser for Schalke.

A see-saw match finished 2-2 in the capital.

Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund saw their resurgent streak stalled as they were held to a 0-0 home draw against Cologne.