Mainz 05 slips into the relegation zone – coach urgently demands points!

Mainz 05 slips into the relegation zone – coach urgently demands points!

After a difficult game against Werder Bremen, FSV Mainz 05, currently with only five points, finds itself in a direct relegation zone in the Bundesliga. The entire appearance ended in a 1-1 draw, which further increased the pressure on the team led by coach Bo Henriksen. The Süddeutsche reports that sports director Niko Bungert described the current league position as “completely secondary”, but at the same time praised the great willingness of his players to run.

The club's last performances have been rather mixed. Mainz couldn't win a single home game this season, and the team had no chance of winning the DFB Cup against VfB Stuttgart in the first round. Now the next challenges lie ahead: a European Cup game against AC Fiorentina and a neighborhood duel against Eintracht Frankfurt. These are games that could be crucial for the team's morale as they desperately need to pick up points by the end of the first half of the season.

Games full of challenges

In the game against Werder Bremen, Mainz managed to take the lead through Silvan Widmer, but the lead was threatened again in the 86th minute when Jens Stage equalized. Benedict Hollerbach, who played as a winger for the first time, was responsible for making it 1-0, but said after the game that the team should have either defended better or used the counterattack situations more efficiently. Werder coach Bo Henriksen praised the first 70 minutes of the game, but saw the urgent need for his team to win three games in a row to get out of the danger zone.

For Werder Bremen, who are eighth in the Bundesliga, the point win was “flattering,” as managing director Clemens Fritz noted. The high level of stress with five competitive games within 15 days was also a topic of discussion. The team must also remember its own strengths in the current season and convert the positive aspects into future successes.

DFB Cup and its challenges

Mainz 05 will face Dynamo Dresden in the DFB Cup on August 18th. This scheduling is viewed critically by the club's management as they only have to play in the UEFA Conference League three days later. As Mainz 05 reports, legal requirements and safeguards ensured terminal specifications that could not be redesigned. Club officials expressed concern about the impact of the tight schedule on the team.

Nevertheless, Mainz will have to work on its form in the coming period to avoid slipping even deeper into the relegation zone. It remains to be seen whether the team can flip the switch in the coming games and how they can balance their European efforts with the domestic league.

In other Bundesliga games, Bayer 04 Leverkusen won 2-0 against Sport-Club Freiburg. In this game Ernest Poku and Edmond Tapsoba scored the goals, which put Leverkusen on the road to success. Freiburg, on the other hand, suffered a bitter defeat that they found difficult to overcome after the season so far.