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NEC Nijmegen
The last time 1. FSV Mainz 05 went on such a hot streak of form and could boast such a strong points total after 23 league matches, Martin Schmidt was still head coach. Our current sporting director led us to a third consecutive victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1), taking us to 36 points and fifth place in the table. However, the Swiss coach never achieved four victories in a row, and so Bo Svensson can take pride in the fact that he was able to complete this feat. This is thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over TSG Hoffenheim in front of 28,000 at the MEWA ARENA. Whilst this is still quite a way short of his former head coach Thomas Tuchel’s record run of seven consecutive victories, the Dane’s team now sit on 35 points and in a strong position ahead of the rest of the campaign.
Svensson’s post-match reaction showed how important he viewed this achievement. It appeared the way in which his team worked hard to get over the line against TSG meant a lot to the coach, because not everything went as smoothly as it did in the 4-0 victory over Gladbach. “It’s remarkable how we’ve won today. You always know this team is going to work hard, and it’s brilliant to see that we’re playing how we want to, and the players are getting their reward for it. It’s real consistency, and we need to keep it going,” explained the 43-year-old.
You always know this team is going to work hard
A solid defence as a key foundation
Schmidt was also keen to praise the success of the side. “You don’t always score four goals, but you don’t always have to, because sometimes one can be enough. The way in which we defended was the most important thing today. Our work in defence was the key to everything. We didn’t allow them a single ‘big chance’. By defence, I mean the entire team, including Jae-sung Lee and Ludovic Ajorque, who defended from the front. That’s what making us stand out at the minute: we stand up tall and defend well,” he commented. “Even if it got a bit wild in the second half, which we didn’t really want when we’re in the lead. However, we’re not the type to shout at the team demanding them to win back control of the game. We need to keep running, be sharp and maintain the intensity. This sometimes leads to a few hectic moments, but I think that’s what we thrive off,” emphasised the 55-year-old.
The best thing about the whole day was that Barreiro scored the decisive goal in his 100th Bundesliga appearance. It came from one of the Zerofivers’ eleven corners of the day: Stefan Bell’s effort from six yards out was saved by Oliver Baumann, but Leandro Barreiro was the quickest to react and volleyed in the rebound. The goal topped off an excellent overall performance from the Luxembourg international on his milestone appearance. ”If you were to have written a script of how the game could have gone, then it would have looked something similar to what happened,” commented the midfielder. “It was a proud and beautiful moment for me, a very emotional moment. To cap it off with a victory and post-match celebrations with the fans made it a perfect day,” he continued. Taking the rough with the smooth, the midfielder launched himself into a challenge in the first half and received a ball to the face as a result, but Barreiro was happy to take that, just as Barreiro, who made his way from the youth academy to regular starter at Mainz 05, was happy to take the praise he received for his performance.
A very emotional moment
“One of our most important players at the minute”
“His face is swollen, he’s got back pain, there’s an ice pack on his calf and his foot. It was a typical Leo performance,” said the Zerofivers head coach. “Once again, he gave everything, he kept pressing, and he threw his body in the way of Hoffenheim’s attempts. He’s simply in great form. Whether we’re two goals up or two goals down, whether it’s the first or the 94th minute, he takes the same approach. That’s Leo. He’s one of our most important players at the minute.”
Svensson, who spent part of the week in bed due to illness (Schmidt: “It really shook him up”), spoke about the expected tough nature of the match after full time. “We went about it well, pushed Hoffenheim back well, and although we didn’t create too many chances, we didn’t concede many either, and we played an active role in the game. I was actually really pleased by that. I think we took a deserved lead before it got a bit crazy in the second half. We were looking for a second, but we weren’t so organised for my liking and afforded the opposition too much space.” That presumably had something to do with the forced substitution of Dominik Kohr in the second half. The midfielder must have felt dizzy when he was elbowed in the face, according to head coach Svensson. “It caused us a few problems in the middle, and we found it tough to close down the spaces in between the midfield and defence, and that’s what made the game a little hectic. It wasn’t what we were hoping for, but it made it a tight game right until the very end, so we’re pleased to have come away from such a game as the victors. There were perhaps different virtues on the pitch today than there were against Gladbach, but that did us some good. I also like winning games 1-0,” explained Svensson, who didn’t want anyone to misunderstand him. “It’s nice to win by three or four, but this victory also shows what makes this side special. Everything went to plan against Gladbach, but there are different ways to win a game of football. Of course, I’d have preferred if we had a bit more control of the game in the second half and that we’d have put it to bed a bit earlier. However, the win was deserved. I admire the players’ ambition to keep getting forward and to score a second goal. I’d admire them even more if they were able to find it and acted with slightly more discipline.”
Momentum and good team spirit
It’s clear that not every game can be a beautiful exhibition of the sport, noted Danny da Costa, who brought a lot of steam and speed to the left flank. “We rose to the challenge and fought hard. You can’t expect us to score three or four goals every game, so it’s important that we keep clean sheets. That’s the way. There’s a really good mentality and team spirit at the minute.” Or “momentum”, as Schmidt called it. “Everything’s going well.” And long may it continue. The FSV sport director doesn’t want to set any concrete goals, “because a lot is possible. We certainly want to stay in the top half of the table.” Mainz can take their next step towards that next Saturday (15:30 CET) away to Hertha BSC.
The last time 1. FSV Mainz 05 went on such a hot streak of form and could boast such a strong points total after 23 league matches, Martin Schmidt was still head coach. Our current sporting director led us to a third consecutive victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1), taking us to 36 points and fifth place in the table. However, the Swiss coach never achieved four victories in a row, and so Bo Svensson can take pride in the fact that he was able to complete this feat. This is thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over TSG Hoffenheim in front of 28,000 at the MEWA ARENA. Whilst this is still quite a way short of his former head coach Thomas Tuchel’s record run of seven consecutive victories, the Dane’s team now sit on 35 points and in a strong position ahead of the rest of the campaign.
Svensson’s post-match reaction showed how important he viewed this achievement. It appeared the way in which his team worked hard to get over the line against TSG meant a lot to the coach, because not everything went as smoothly as it did in the 4-0 victory over Gladbach. “It’s remarkable how we’ve won today. You always know this team is going to work hard, and it’s brilliant to see that we’re playing how we want to, and the players are getting their reward for it. It’s real consistency, and we need to keep it going,” explained the 43-year-old.
You always know this team is going to work hard
A solid defence as a key foundation
Schmidt was also keen to praise the success of the side. “You don’t always score four goals, but you don’t always have to, because sometimes one can be enough. The way in which we defended was the most important thing today. Our work in defence was the key to everything. We didn’t allow them a single ‘big chance’. By defence, I mean the entire team, including Jae-sung Lee and Ludovic Ajorque, who defended from the front. That’s what making us stand out at the minute: we stand up tall and defend well,” he commented. “Even if it got a bit wild in the second half, which we didn’t really want when we’re in the lead. However, we’re not the type to shout at the team demanding them to win back control of the game. We need to keep running, be sharp and maintain the intensity. This sometimes leads to a few hectic moments, but I think that’s what we thrive off,” emphasised the 55-year-old.
The best thing about the whole day was that Barreiro scored the decisive goal in his 100th Bundesliga appearance. It came from one of the Zerofivers’ eleven corners of the day: Stefan Bell’s effort from six yards out was saved by Oliver Baumann, but Leandro Barreiro was the quickest to react and volleyed in the rebound. The goal topped off an excellent overall performance from the Luxembourg international on his milestone appearance. ”If you were to have written a script of how the game could have gone, then it would have looked something similar to what happened,” commented the midfielder. “It was a proud and beautiful moment for me, a very emotional moment. To cap it off with a victory and post-match celebrations with the fans made it a perfect day,” he continued. Taking the rough with the smooth, the midfielder launched himself into a challenge in the first half and received a ball to the face as a result, but Barreiro was happy to take that, just as Barreiro, who made his way from the youth academy to regular starter at Mainz 05, was happy to take the praise he received for his performance.
A very emotional moment
“One of our most important players at the minute”
“His face is swollen, he’s got back pain, there’s an ice pack on his calf and his foot. It was a typical Leo performance,” said the Zerofivers head coach. “Once again, he gave everything, he kept pressing, and he threw his body in the way of Hoffenheim’s attempts. He’s simply in great form. Whether we’re two goals up or two goals down, whether it’s the first or the 94th minute, he takes the same approach. That’s Leo. He’s one of our most important players at the minute.”
Svensson, who spent part of the week in bed due to illness (Schmidt: “It really shook him up”), spoke about the expected tough nature of the match after full time. “We went about it well, pushed Hoffenheim back well, and although we didn’t create too many chances, we didn’t concede many either, and we played an active role in the game. I was actually really pleased by that. I think we took a deserved lead before it got a bit crazy in the second half. We were looking for a second, but we weren’t so organised for my liking and afforded the opposition too much space.” That presumably had something to do with the forced substitution of Dominik Kohr in the second half. The midfielder must have felt dizzy when he was elbowed in the face, according to head coach Svensson. “It caused us a few problems in the middle, and we found it tough to close down the spaces in between the midfield and defence, and that’s what made the game a little hectic. It wasn’t what we were hoping for, but it made it a tight game right until the very end, so we’re pleased to have come away from such a game as the victors. There were perhaps different virtues on the pitch today than there were against Gladbach, but that did us some good. I also like winning games 1-0,” explained Svensson, who didn’t want anyone to misunderstand him. “It’s nice to win by three or four, but this victory also shows what makes this side special. Everything went to plan against Gladbach, but there are different ways to win a game of football. Of course, I’d have preferred if we had a bit more control of the game in the second half and that we’d have put it to bed a bit earlier. However, the win was deserved. I admire the players’ ambition to keep getting forward and to score a second goal. I’d admire them even more if they were able to find it and acted with slightly more discipline.”
Momentum and good team spirit
It’s clear that not every game can be a beautiful exhibition of the sport, noted Danny da Costa, who brought a lot of steam and speed to the left flank. “We rose to the challenge and fought hard. You can’t expect us to score three or four goals every game, so it’s important that we keep clean sheets. That’s the way. There’s a really good mentality and team spirit at the minute.” Or “momentum”, as Schmidt called it. “Everything’s going well.” And long may it continue. The FSV sport director doesn’t want to set any concrete goals, “because a lot is possible. We certainly want to stay in the top half of the table.” Mainz can take their next step towards that next Saturday (15:30 CET) away to Hertha BSC.
