Huge relegation favourites 1. FSV Mainz 05 surprised Bundesliga to finish 7th and secure European qualification. However, the lack of an out-and-out goalscorer was worrying Roberto Lazaró heading into the summer of 2035.
The summer began with big off-field news as the Mainz board announced plans to go ahead with their plans to build a new stadium. Jürgen Klopp Park will cost the club a massive £143.6m, which will be paid using a £99m loan, and will be completed by the summer of 2038, in three years’ time.
More worrying news was star homegrown product Volker Breidenbach, who was valued at £90m, requesting to leave as he wanted to play with better players. That saw 14 of Europe’s biggest teams show an interest and enter a bidding war that Lazaró managed to negotiate up to a ludicrous £156m from Barcelona, more than quintupling the previous record sale of £30.5m. They also moved on a few players who weren’t progressing for an additional £30m, giving Lazaró plenty of money to work with.
Lazaró put some of that cash to use with some exciting new signings, led by 6ft 3in left back Laerte for £6m from Fluminense. Joining him were strikers Bernard Rouxel and Wong Tsz Hin for £6m and £9m from Monaco and Zurich, attacking midfielder Nemanja Ratkovic for £1.1m from Vojvodina and holding midfielder Minervino Zurzica for £5.25m from Benfica.
Lazaró followed through on a change of formation he’d been mulling over in the summer, switching to a narrow 4-3-3 approach with star prospects Damián Jorge and Santiago Quiroga playing in behind Hernán Acosta. It will also require winger Guilherme Henrique to convert to an attacking right back.
Mainz Back In Europe
Lazaró was slightly surprised to enter the Europa Conference League in the fourth qualifying round and more surprised at some of the big teams in the draw. And Mainz got one in Lyon. Midfielder Salvador Martínez nicked a 1-0 home win before Brajan Gruda’s strike earned a 1-1 in France. The league phase began with a pretty lackluster performance as centre back Roberto Carlos Castaneda headed the only goal at home to Viktoria Plzen. Ratkovic created both goals for midfielder Angelo Tursi and Hin’s first goal for the club in a 2-1 win at Rosenborg before rotated sides won 2-0 at Shamrock Rovers and held on for a 0-0 at Brondby. Mainz wrapped up qualification in 4th place with Jorge’s brace inspiring a 3-1 win over Dnipro and Hin bagging a hat trick in a 4-0 thumping of Domzale.
SK Rapid followed in the last 16. Mainz took control with a 6-2 away win led by Hin and Quiroga braces and a rotated side snuck through with a 2-1 defeat. Slavia Praha were up next and Mainz cruised through 4-1, led by Jorge, Stiven Navarro, Quiroga and Hin goals earning a 4-0 home win. That teed up a semi final against Braga, while Leicester faced Rosenborg. They struggled in the away leg, conceding early but got a lifeline as an own goal earned a draw. A brilliant Henrique strike put them in front before Jorge converted from a corner inside half an hour at home and Martínez headed home a late third to send Mainz into the first Cup Final in club history!
Building On Bundesliga Overachievement
The bookies slightly boosted Mainz’s odds, predicting them to finish 14th with title odds of 400/1. Leipzig are 15/8 favourites to retain the title followed by Leverkusen (7/2) and Dortmund and Bayern (4/1).
Mainz began Bundesliga with a tough trip to Dortmund and got dominated 4-1 but bounced back with midfielder Leanderson Moutinho and Acosta deciding a tight 2-0 win at home to Stuttgart. It looked like last season’s trend of being good at home and bad away was continuing as they lost 3-1 at Frankfurt then Quiroga’s early strike defeated last season’s title contenders Wolfsburg. But they got going on their travels as the front three of Quiroga, Jorge and Acosta secured a 3-0 win at Koln.
That sparked Mainz onto a strong run. A 2-0 win at Hamburg took them 2nd after 10 games and, a week later, Martínez and Jorge goals saw off Augsburg 2-1 to send Mainz top of Bundesliga for the first time. Back-to-back defeats at Leipzig and Bayern in 4 days in early December, in the latter of which the legendary Gruda set a new club league appearances record as he played his 375th game, were countered by Jorge and Quiroga edging a 2-1 win over Bochum. That took Mainz into 2036 sitting pretty in 4th place.
Mainz took that into the new year as Jorge, armed with a new 5-year deal, scored the only goal at home to Leverkusen. However, 12 first-teamers were called up for youth internationals, and they lost a tough run of games against Stuttgart, Dortmund and rivals Frankfurt. Those struggles continued amid the combination of European and domestic matters. Mainz’s league form dropped off a cliff, as they only took 20 points and lost 9 of their final 18 matches. They just about held on to 6th place with 53 points, after 16 wins, 5 draws and 13 defeats, scoring 48 and conceding 44.
Europa Conference League Final
40,000 fans from England and Germany convened on Metalist, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, as Mainz competed in their maiden cup final against Leicester City. Lazaró had a clean bill of health so lined up:
Schroder; Henrique, Bertazzi, Adler, Laerte; Gutiérrez, Moutinho; Tursi; Jorge, Quiroga; Acosta
Subs: Hin, Cerantola, Castaneda, Martínez, Barbosa, Navarro, Marcelo, Gruda, Agustín, Ratkovic
Mainz started brightly as Jorge saw a shot well saved but Leicester fluked their way into the lead as their first shot bounced off the post, onto Daniel Schroder’s back and into the net. Jorge quickly leveled the game up with a brilliant goal, beating three players down the right then cutting inside to curl the ball into the far top corner. Mainz just about edged a poor game and, just as it looked to be drifting to extra time, club legend Gruda came off the bench and swiftly won his side a penalty, as he was fouled just inside the box. The midfielder picked himself up to take the biggest penalty in club history… and calmly smashed a 90th-minute winner into the bottom corner.
Mainz won the European Conference League and their first major trophy!
Mainz Homegrown Players Update
Lazaró was very excited about the potential in this Mainz side, winning the club’s first major honour and securing another strong league finish. Jorge was very much their star man with 14 goals and 8 assists in 38 games. However, they were still lacking a regular goalscorer as Acosta only managed 9 in 37, but Hin scored 13 in 27, including 8 in 10 starts in Europe.
However, a note of thanks has to be issued to the legendary 31-year-old Brajan Gruda, who will be departing Mainz at the end of the season. Local boy Gruda, who was born in nearby Speyer, was already considered a club legend having come through the academy in 2022 and played 390 league games. But that night in Kharkiv will long remembered by Die Nullfünfer supporters as, almost fittingly, Gruda stepped off the bench to win and convert the penalty that sealed their first-ever major trophy.
The first-team squad now had 9 homegrown players, who played a combined 234 league games with 19 goals and 111 cup games with 9 goals. Check out all their stats by clicking the chart below:
The Under 19s won Bundesliga Sud/Sudwest led by Rouxel scoring 25 goals and academy product Justin Thielmann’s 13 assists. All the leading youth products’ stats are here:
Mainz again had three players make the NxGn list led by Hin, who scored on his Switzerland debut in April, in 11th, goalkeeper Daniel Schorder 20th and Ratkovic 42nd. They had been promised 4 A’s in the youth intake preview, but eventually got two elite talents in midfielder Fatmir Isufi and centre back Sven Wagner, as well as top talents Mislav Cagalj and centre back Lorenzo Falchi.
Could Mainz build on their European success and take the fight to Germany’s big boys in Lazaró’s fifth season in Germany? Join us next Friday to find out!
Football Manager Addict 
Leave a comment