FSV Mainz 05 didn’t give the Champions League starter VfL Wolfsburg the slightest chance. The Rheinhessen won 3-0 and caused disillusionment among the wolves.
Florian Kohfeldt was disappointed to see. The coach of VfL Wolfsburg watched the last few minutes almost motionless and after the 0: 3 (0: 2) bankruptcy at FSV Mainz 05, he quickly stomped into the dressing room with his hands in his trouser pockets.
“That sucks what we do. The first half wasn’t enough, we didn’t have a scoring chance,” said Josuha Guilavogui at Sky. Four days before the game against OSC Lille in the Champions League, the Wolves had to admit defeat after early hits by Mainz’s Jonathan Burkardt (2nd) and Anton Stach (4th).
Stach was pleased: “The goal was rehearsed by us. The fact that it worked like this today is outstanding.” Because it didn’t always work in training. Maxence Lacroix (90th) made the final score with an own goal.
After the promising start under the new coach, VfL has been waiting for a win for four competitive games. The dress rehearsal for the decisive group game in the premier class was completely screwed up, the chance to gain confidence was not used.
Kohfeldt rages after conceding early goals
The Wolfsburg completely overslept the start in front of 10,000 fans, the Lower Saxony have never been so quickly behind in the Bundesliga 0: 2. After a nice teamwork between Jae-Sung Lee and Leandro Barreiro, Burkardt converted the game’s first chance ice cold. Shortly afterwards, Stach hit from distance, VfL goalkeeper Pavao Pervan saw the ball late. For Mainz it was the fastest double strike in club history in the Bundesliga.
Kohfeldt raged after the catastrophic start of his team and threw his winter jacket on the bench. His attempts to wake up the team, however, came to nothing.
Triple change from Kohfeldt during the break
In Mainz Kohfeldt had to do without goalkeeper Koen Casteels again. The captain could return against Lille after his corona infection. Compared to the defeat against Borussia Dortmund (1: 3) only Paulo Otavio moved into the starting line-up for Jerome Roussillon.
VfL acted completely insecure at the beginning, revealed huge gaps on the defensive and had big problems with the intense game of the team of coach Bo Svensson.
Mainz, on the other hand, showed a good grip and could have gone into the break with an even higher lead. In the only offensive action from Wolfsburg, Aster Vranckx (21st) put a free kick on the post. The Rheinhessen, on the other hand, came to dangerous deals through Leandro Barreiro (18th) and Burkardt (41st/42nd).
Kohfeldt reacted at halftime and brought three fresh forces in Yannick Gerhardt, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Kevin Mbabu. The guests became a bit more active at the beginning of the second round, but still hardly came to a clear conclusion.
Above all, the Mainz team played their part in this with a more committed appearance. Svensson’s team was defensively safe and won the decisive duels in midfield. Individual pinpricks, such as the deals by Silvan Widmer (67th) and Burkardt (75th), kept the Wolfsburg defense busy in the final phase.
FSV Mainz 05 – VfL Wolfsburg: votes
Bo Svensson (Trainer FSV Mainz 05): “I saw my team play a very good game, the two early goals helped. We did a lot of things really well. After a few not-so-good performances it was very good today.”
Florian Kohfeldt (coach VfL Wolfsburg): “We didn’t do that much right and deservedly lost. After four minutes I was really angry. I have to say clearly that of course that can’t be our long-term goal to deliver such an away game. Now the focus is immediately on the game against Lille. “
1. FSV Mainz 05 – VfL Wolfsburg: The lineups
Mainz: Zentner – Bell, Alexander Hack (86th Nemeth), Niakhate – Widmer, Stach, Martin – Barreiro, Lee (83rd Boetius) – Onisiwo (83rd Szalai), Burkardt (76th Ingvartsen).
Wolfsburg: Pervan – Lacroix, Guilavogui, Brooks (46th Bornauw) – Baku (46th Mbabu), Arnold (46th Gerhardt), Vranckx (81st Philipp), Paulo Otavio – Lukebakio (57th Waldschmidt), Nmecha – Weghorst.
