Wolfsburg 3 - 1 VfB Stuttgart: Wolfsburg keep pressure on Bayern

Wolfsburg all but mathematically secured their place in the Champions League next season with a 3-1 win over Stuttgart which leaves the Swabians rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga.

Two goals from Ricardo Rodriguez and Andre Schurrle's first goal for the Wolves allowed Dieter Hecking's men to establish a comfortable advantage over fifth-placed Schalke while keeping up the pressure on league leaders Bayern Munich.

Martin Harnik's header was merely a consolation for Huub Stevens' men, whose survival hopes suffered another setback.

There was an early let-off for Stuttgart when an unmarked Luiz Gustavo failed to connect with Robin Knoche's header.

The visitors responded with a good chance of their own through Filip Kostic, who sent his shot wide with only Diego Benaglio to beat.

Stuttgart were not without their chances, but a foul by Florian Klein on Daniel Caligiuri inside the penalty area in the 40th minute saw them come undone with Rodriguez sending Sven Ulreich the wrong way from the spot.

Their response was exemplary, though, with Harnik levelling three minutes later, heading in Kostic's cross for a deserved equaliser.

The second half was more one-sided, though, with Wolfsburg finally getting the measure of their guests and raising the pressure bit by bit before Rodriguez curled his free-kick past Ulreich, who appeared to be put off by Naldo's attempted header.

Schurrle then opened his Wolfsburg account with some route one stuff, Benaglio's punt forward picked up eventually by Kevin De Bruyne, who laid the ball off for the former Chelsea man to lift his effort past Ulreich.

There were chances for a fourth, but Wolfsburg lost their bite in the final minutes, preferring instead to save energy for a DFB-Pokal quarter-final in midweek.