At the final whistle, Nadiem Amiri sank to his knees, clenched his fists and gasped for air: The tireless driver at FSV Mainz 05 had brought out everything in the top game of the 33rd matchday on Saturday evening, which the Borussia Dortmund players had on the other side couldn’t claim it. Julian Brandt led a crowd of actors who dragged themselves to apologize to the traveling supporters in the Mainz Arena. The bottom line was a well-deserved 3-0 (3-0) win for excited Mainzelmännchen, who were frenetically celebrated by their audience for an extremely important victory in the relegation battle.
Captain Marco Reus spoke of a “deserved defeat,” saying “we were always one step too late.” To a certain extent, he could understand, said the veteran after his penultimate Bundesliga game, if Mainz’s relegation competition sucked. “In any case, we expect more from ourselves: that wasn’t good.”
Terzic reacts self-critically to his team’s performance
BVB coach Edin Terzic also seemed well served just four days after the hussar’s coup in Paris’ Prinzenpark because, unlike the previous week, his B line-up didn’t get a leg up on the ground in the home game against FC Augsburg (5-1): “We were This time it was always too late in the direct duels. It’s about the way: We couldn’t take the ball in peace, but they could accept everything. It was a very bitter evening for us. Of course I take responsibility for that.” You didn’t live up to your own standards. “We haven’t proven that we can really bring adult, mature football to every game.” The coach was also “extremely annoyed” to have given away fourth place with this defeat. “We wanted to use the last few weeks leading up to the final to make them the best three weeks of the season. That went completely wrong today.”
The Mainz audience, on the other hand, celebrated with a fervor and loudness like only in the foolish days. Amiri climbed the fence to start the usual humba routine. The midfielder, who was signed by champions Bayer Leverkusen in the winter, is leading the way as a symbolic figure of resurrection, so to speak. “I’m very happy, I feel good: Mainz gives me everything,” emphasized the filigree technician. With their best performance of the season, the zero-fives have secured themselves a very favorable starting position in 15th place in the table: Direct relegation is no longer possible, and a point on the last match day at VfL Wolfsburg is definitely enough to avoid relegation due to the good goal difference. Given the state of the last few weeks, it doesn’t seem very likely that this team, which has been extremely vital for weeks, will now squander the direct rescue.
However, sports director Martin Schmidt warned that he should act with the handbrake on at his former place of work in Wolfsburg. “We can’t go to one point, we have to think forward.” But that’s why the Zero Fives have their Danish coach, coach Bo Henriksen, who once again emphasized the positive: “We beat a fantastic team, that’s why I’m so proud of my boys.” Amiri enthused: “The guy is a legend. He dances, he screams: But we needed someone like that to clear our heads.”
The black and yellow never found the right attitude against this poisonous, aggressive opponent. Apart from Nico Schlotterbeck, who like Mats Hummels is still hoping to be nominated for the European Championships by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, none of the starting eleven remained from the Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. From back to front, the Westphalians managed almost nothing. There was sheer chaos, especially in the back line, where Niklas Süle was a major source of uncertainty. After 23 minutes the home team was already leading 3-0.
Jae-Sung Lee takes advantage of a mistake by BVB goalkeeper Meyer
Mainz’s celebration began with a bad pass from left-back Mateu Morey: FSV captain Silvan Widmer passed it back to Leandro Barreiro, who made it 1-0 with all his determination (12′). After the end of the game, sports director Schmidt confirmed that the midfielder would move to Benfica Lisbon on a free transfer: “It’s going in that direction.” Dortmund had already tried their luck with aluminum from Paris in the early stages when Amiri (7th) and Widmer (8th) fired their first warning shots at the goal post.
But no one had to worry about the self-proclaimed carnival club because after all, the guests were in a giving mood. When substitute keeper Alexander Meyer played a free kick from the penalty area directly into the feet of Jae-Sung Lee, the South Korean had the presence of mind to make it 2-0 (19′). The blundering goalkeeper was powerless when Lee scored again after Barreiro’s assist to make it 3-0 (23′). Terzic reacted at the break after the revelation from the first half by bringing in his regulars Julian Brandt, Jadon Sancho and Ian Maatsen. The fifth-place team only had a little more to counter the hosts’ fireworks after Youssoufa Moukoko scored an offside goal (52′). But Borussia Dortmund remained miles away from the claim of a team that is playing for the premier class crown in three weeks until the end.