Dieter Nickles symbolized the state of FC Bayern, which lost 3-1 in Mainz. The press spokesman for the German record champions moved on crutches through the mixed zone of the arena at the Europakreisel – but he was faster than a number of Munich professionals, who crept out of their cabins in the direction of the bus with stony faces. Jamal Musiala at the very moment when Leandro Barreiro, speaking to journalists interested in FSV Mainz 05, praised him as an “outstanding player who can easily get out of any situation”.
On that day, however, nothing was left of the individual and team qualities of Bayern. For the third time in a row they had lost a Bundesliga game in Mainz, the first under Hansi Flick, the second under Julian Nagelsmann, the third under Thomas Tuchel – which differed from the previous two in that the Munich team took the lead, but not were able to achieve or expand on them.
The ’05 didn’t make it too difficult for them for a long time. “I found us very scared, we looked more like an insecure team,” Bo Svensson commented on his team’s performance in the first half. In the early minutes they started early and attacked Bayern in their penalty area. “We also tried to attack later, but couldn’t do it anymore,” said the coach.
Tuchel looks helpless
Mainz’s home-grown problem essentially consisted of two components: On the one hand, the defensive line behaved too timidly, “they didn’t dare to defend forwards,” complained Svensson. The spaces that opened up for Bayern as a result could not be closed by defensive midfield alone – even if the best man of the game in Leandro Barreiro ran, fought and won balls there. On the other hand, the 05ers didn’t manage to capitalize on winning the ball, and a wealth of potential counter-chances petered out early on.
“Our quality with the ball wasn’t good, so we didn’t have any relief phases,” Svensson noted – in numbers, it was only 25 percent possession before the break. “And if you’re only in defense mode, you have to be happy that it’s only 0-1.” True, Bayern failed to add two or three more goals to Sadio Mané’s header from the 29th minute – “otherwise we would have Now a completely different press conference,” said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, who seemed at a loss about the condition of his team.
Mainz’s Leandro Barreiro celebrates after the 2-1.
:
Image: dpa
Still, neither he nor Svensson nor probably anyone else at the stadium would have guessed how the game was going to develop until the middle of the second half. “We were a bit better than before the break, but we were the second-best team up to 1-1,” admitted the 05 coach. Then Ludovic Ajorque headed the ball into the corner, Barreiro made it 2-1 after a Piken pass and Aarón fired a brilliant left-footed shot into the far corner. Within 14 minutes, the Mainz team had dismantled the champions.
“It feels outstanding,” said Leandro Barreiro at the end of his interview marathon. “Turning a game is one thing, against Bayern a second. The way is still there today.” On top of that, it was the tenth non-lost league match in a row, behind BVB Mainz are the second best team in the second half of the season. And after several weeks of rapprochement, they pushed themselves ahead of Frankfurt Eintracht for the time being.
After three days off, Bo Svensson is likely to present his kickers with a very critical analysis. “It sounds strange today,” he said, “but we were far from our best game.”
