Schalke are 15th in the 18-team league, just one point off the relegation zone, while Bayern only last week climbed to fifth, a massive 14 points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.
With only three games left until the winter break the two teams are desperate for points so as not to miss out on their revised targets.
Both coaches received their clubs' support this week, Schalke's Felix Magath being backed during crisis talks on Wednesday and Louis van Gaal getting a standing ovation at Bayern's annual general meeting on Tuesday.
"It is normal for the board to sit down and discuss our sporting situation," said Magath who spent tens of millions of euros in the close season to buy strikers Raul and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
"I do not know if the board covered my back but I had the feeling everyone was confident," he told reporters.
"Our aim is to go into the first knockout round with a small gap to the top," said striker Mario Gomez who has netted nine times in the league and six times in the Champions League after spending much of the early part of the season on the bench.
