“You also have to be able to treat yourself,” says a Rhenish proverb – and Daniel Gleiber could: “Louis deserves to be the match winner,” said the U-19 captain of FSV Mainz 05 after the youth play-off game League against FC Barcelona. Louis Babatz, the goalkeeper, saved two of seven balls in the penalty shootout, securing his team a 6-5 win in the shoot-out and a place in the round of 16. “This is crazy,” said coach Benjamin Hoffmann.
Gleiber could have ended the whole thing a little earlier. When the score was 4:3 it was his turn, and if he had done the same as his four teammates, all of whom had converted, he would have been the celebrated man. Also rightly so, because he was the outstanding player on the field during the 90 minutes plus injury time that ended 2-2 (1-1). But the midfielder was denied from the spot by the American Diego Kochen in the Barca goal. Afterwards it no longer mattered because Marcel Kalemba and Safyan Touré scored for Mainz and Babatz saved the Catalans’ seventh penalty. After that there was no stopping.
Straightforward play
“It was a complete chaos of emotions,” said the keeper, describing the moments in which, after completing his deed, he ran towards his colleagues rushing towards him and joined them in a cheering crowd – celebrated by 7,000 fans in the sold-out Bruchweg Stadium. The cheat sheet that goalkeeping coach Toma Trocha had given Babatz didn’t help him much with the preferences of the Catalan shooters, but the tips to keep a cool head and at the same time signal to the opponent: “I’m in your head.”
“I should be a little crazy,” Babatz said. “Maybe it’s the German goalkeeping school.”
What he and his teammates brought to the pitch during the 90 minutes of play was the best of Mainz 05 school: unconditional commitment, aggressive tackling and – whenever possible – straightforward forward play. Always in focus: Daniel Gleiber, who shone as a ball winner, driver, passer and in the 25th minute also as a goalscorer.
He accepted a cross pass from Tim Müller on the edge of the penalty area, turned around central defender Hector Rangel, shielded the ball against his long leg in a short sprint duel and tunneled to Kochen to make it 1-0. With one of the most spectacular scenes of the game, the captain almost brought about the decision during regular time. After a short run, he shot from around 28 meters. Kochen flew in vain, but the finely-circulated ball hit the top of the left post.
Unlimited celebration of the great coup in front of a great backdrop: Mainz’s offspring in pure happiness: Image: IMAGO/Beautiful Sports
Mainz qualified for the duel with FC Barcelona as German champions with victories in the qualifying rounds against NK Maribor (2:0, 1:1) and Dinamo Minsk (1:1, 2:1). There was no return leg in the play-offs; The team from the weaker “championship round” had home advantage, while the clubs whose professionals were represented in the Champions League had to compete away.
The 05ers went into the game as underdogs, but in the intense encounter they were the stronger team for long stretches. At 1-1, however, their backline wasn’t up to scratch: Noah Darvich, the Freiburg-born captain of last year’s German U-17 world champion team, was able to head in unhindered, even though there were three 05s around him (34′).
The knockout game seemed to tip towards the favorites three minutes after the break. Dani Rodriguez ran a counterattack from his own half on the right, moved slightly inwards and shot into the far corner. But the Spaniards didn’t make enough use of this advantage, as Daniel Gleiber later analyzed with surprising sobriety despite all the emotions: “If Barcelona had played to 3-1, it would have been difficult for us,” he said. “We needed a little bit after falling behind.”
But Mainz recovered and Philipp Schulz equalized with a shot from the turn (74′). “At times we were too hectic, in the end it was an effort of will,” said Benjamin Hoffmann, who was promoted to U-23 coach in January but still works for the U-19s.
Sebastian Theuner Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 1
“We forced the equalizer instead of solving the whole thing playfully, but that wasn’t our role today. A huge thank you to the fans who helped the boys push themselves to their limits.” He himself “was overtaken by everyone during the cheering storm,” he admitted. He still made it to the round of 16. Real Madrid, AC Milan or Manchester City could be opponents on February 27th or 28th.
