Freiburg battle Bayern to bag a point

Bayern Munich saw their Bundesliga title challenge suffer a setback tonight as they were held to a goalless draw by struggling Freiburg. Bayern are now four points adrift of pacesetters Borussia Dortmund, who beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 earlier today, while Borussia Monchengladbach also moved a point ahead of the Bavarians into second spot with their victory over Kaiserslautern. It might have been even worse for Bayern as well with Freiburg having the better chances to win today's late game as they moved off the foot of the table with a well-earned point. Having beaten Freiburg 7-0 at home earlier this season, Bayern could have been forgiven for thinking it would be a walk in the park at the Dreisamstadion. And when Holger Badstuber had the ball in the back of the Freiburg net in the eighth minute, it looked like that might be the case. However, the linesman's flag was raised, denying Bayern the lead, and the visitors would find Freiburg a much tougher opponent than the one which had gone down so easily at the Allianz Arena. Johannes Flum threatened first for the hosts when he raced through only to be denied by Jerome Boateng, the last man he had to beat before facing Manuel Neuer. From the resulting corner, Ivan Santini sent his header just inches wide of the post before Cedric Makiadi's shot was blocked minutes later. Bayern seemed shocked and they were certainly a far cry from a side looking to keep the pressure up on Dortmund. Thomas Muller's side-footed volley from Franck Ribery's cross in the 43rd minute was the only time they tested Oliver Baumann in the first half. Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes sent Arjen Robben on at the start of the second half and his shot from a tight angle in the 48th minute hinted at an improvement. But Bayern were unable to build on that and the best chance of the second period fell to Freiburg midfielder Daniel Caligiuri in the 84th minute, but he failed to beat an alert Neuer inside his near post.