The Mainz fans in the stands at the MEWA ARENA showed a good understanding of the team’s situation after their bitter 3-0 loss against Bayer 04 Leverkusen and gave them a round of applause. The 05ers deserved it after what was an unlucky result for the home side. FSV were left empty-handed at full-time after a very tidy performance over 90 minutes against a top side.
Despite the frustration, the players and senior club figures remained optimistic after the latest defeat.
The 05ers’ reaction following #M05B04
Head of sport Christian Heidel: “The feeling in the changing room was one of disbelief. If you look at the stats, today was pretty strange. Leverkusen were very clinical and showed their quality. We have to accept that. However, we can also simultaneously acknowledge what the boys did and attempted to do today. That gives us courage. At the moment, we are getting punished by the clinical nature of our opponents – that’s our problem. Therefore, we’re dejected today, but things keep going. We’ve got a point from six games and that’s not great. However, we are sure that we can and will adjust.”
Danny da Costa: “Especially in the first half, the game felt really good. We continuously tried to cause problems. We did that well. Then we went into the break 1-0 down and couldn’t remember Leverkusen having a single shot. That’s brutal. Nevertheless, the energy was also there in the second half, the team’s morale was good, and then their first effort ended up in the back of our net. You almost feel like you’re in a bad movie. That’s our situation currently. We need to maintain today’s approach and focus. Something is lacking in terms of our play, that’s clear. I had a good feeling about our stability. If we look at certain moments from the game individually and see that a team like Bayer Leverkusen had a tough time today, then that can serve as motivation for us. We need to keep a clean sheet since that’s the name of the game. If we continue to stick together, then the results will come.”
Sporting director Martin Schmidt: “Today we lost to an extremely clinical opponent. Their first shot at goal was the one that made it 2-0 and decided the game. It was already very tough to be behind at the break, even though the opposition hadn’t had a single effort at goal. We saw a different energy on the pitch today, also in the second half. We did well until we reached the opposition’s penalty area, but clear-cut chances in the box were sometimes lacking. We still had some chances to score. In terms of the way they played, you can’t blame the team. The fact that we lost has more to do with the opposition than us. We did as much as we could, but that wasn’t enough to pick up points today.”