Bundesliga, 13th matchday
Next win: Gladbach climbs – Mainz crisis getting worse
Updated 12/5/2025 – 10:43 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Borussia is still on the rise and is also winning at FSV. The change of coach didn’t have any direct effect on Mainz.
For FSV Mainz 05, the sporting decline continued under interim coach Benjamin Hoffmann. The Rheinhessen lost 0-1 (0-0) against Borussia Mönchengladbach at the start of the 13th matchday of the Bundesliga and remain bottom of the table with six points. Borussia remained unbeaten in the fifth league game in a row, picking up 13 of a possible 15 points.
In front of 30,500 spectators, Danny da Costa sealed Mainz’s bitter home defeat with an own goal in the 58th minute. They parted ways with coach Bo Henriksen last Wednesday and promoted U23 coach Hoffmann to boss just for this one game. According to sports director Christian Heidel, the new coach will be introduced next Monday.
According to sports director Christian Heidel, the new coach will be introduced next Monday. “I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to do this,” said Heidel before kick-off on the pay TV channel Sky and also described the profile of the football teacher he was looking for: “Bo is a special guy who has turned everything upside down. Now we need a coach who looks at it calmly.”
Mainz’s calculation with Hoffmann didn’t work out. The coach had to do without the injured goalkeeper Robin Zentner and the suspended winger Paul Nebel. But that wasn’t enough, Hoffmann started the big rotation machine and changed the starting eleven to seven positions compared to the recent 0:4 at SC Freiburg.
Biggest surprise: In addition to Nelson Weiper, Fabio Moreno Fell was allowed to play in attack for the first time in the Bundesliga. The 25-year-old Spaniard played in the association league last season and has only played in the Mainz reserves in the regional league this season.
The separation from Henriksen, who had led Rheinhessen into the Conference League, caused consternation among the Mainz professionals. “That made us sad because we know that we are also to blame for it,” said national player Nadiem Amiri on the Sky microphone and announced: “We want to get a win for him.”