From a shock draw in Munich to Stuttgart's statement win, the afternoon underlined why the title race and the battle for Europe remain wide open heading into the final league weekend before the winter break.

Kompany rues waste as Mainz stun Bayern in Munich

Bayern Munich were left frustrated after being held to a 2-2 draw by bottom side FSV Mainz at the Allianz Arena, ending their three-match Bundesliga winning run. Despite dominating possession and chances, the league leaders failed to turn control into victory.

Head coach Vincent Kompany did not hide his disappointment afterwards. "It's disappointing regardless of the opponent and where. We always want to win. We didn't manage that today," Kompany said. "Mainz did an excellent job with the few moments they had. We couldn't make the difference with our big chances like we normally do."

Teenagers Lennart Karl and Kacper Potulski scored for the visitors, who showed remarkable composure under pressure. Karl opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, finishing from close range after Serge Gnabry's cut-back, only for Potulski to equalise in first-half stoppage time with a header from William Boving's free-kick.

Mainz then shocked the stadium midway through the second half when Lee Jae-sung headed them into the lead. Bayern pushed hard and were finally rewarded when Harry Kane converted a late penalty after being fouled by Potulski.

"We still scored two goals but unfortunately conceded two," Kompany added. "On another day, we could have scored three or four more goals."

Bayern remain nine points clear at the top ahead of a trip to Heidenheim, while Mainz stayed bottom but took encouragement under new head coach Urs Fischer.

Holer volley rescues Freiburg after Dortmund red card

SC Freiburg ended a long wait for a positive result against Borussia Dortmund by earning a 1-1 draw at the Europa-Park Stadion, denying the visitors a chance to close the gap on Bayern Munich.

Dortmund were sharp in the first half and went ahead just after the half-hour when Ramy Bensebaini's close-range effort took a deflection and crept in at the near post. They looked in control until eight minutes into the second half, when a mistake from Gregor Kobel led to Jobe Bellingham being sent off for hauling down Philipp Treu.

Despite coping well with ten men, Dortmund were undone 15 minutes from time. Christian Gunter's delivery found Lucas Holer, who produced a stunning volley on the turn to beat Kobel and level the match.

Freiburg had a late winner ruled out for offside and settled for a point that lifted them to ninth. Dortmund stayed third after missing a clear opportunity to apply pressure at the top.

Leweling inspires Stuttgart rout in Bremen

VfB Stuttgart delivered one of the performances of the weekend with a convincing 4-0 away win over Werder Bremen, powered by a goal and two assists from Jamie Leweling.

After an evenly contested opening, Stuttgart struck five minutes before half-time when Bilal El Khannouss headed in Leweling's cross. Leweling then doubled the lead himself with a superb long-range effort moments later.

Bremen's task became even harder just before the hour when Karim Coulibaly was sent off for a second booking. Stuttgart took full advantage, with Leweling setting up Deniz Undav for a powerful third before Chris Fuhrich added a late fourth.

The win lifted Stuttgart above Eintracht Frankfurt into sixth, just one point off the top four. Bremen, meanwhile, remained five points above the relegation play-off places and were left sweating over a shoulder injury to captain Marco Friedl.

As the Bundesliga pauses for winter, Bayern still set the pace, but Sunday's results showed that nothing can be taken for granted.

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