Matchday compact: All information about the Mainz game

Unmissable. This description fits the FSV Mainz 05 stadium perfectly. The “Mewa-Arena” stands in the middle of the fields, adjacent to the Bretzenheim district of Mainz. The FSV has been playing in its new home stadium since the summer of 2011, and since then fans and spectators have had to get used to three different names – in addition to „Mewa“, the Mainz Arena also had „Coface“ and „Opel“ as nicknames. The Lilies have only been guests in the 05er’s new home cities twice, in 2016 there was a 0-0 and a 1-2 defeat in Rheinhessen.

The Bruchwegstadion, where the FSV played its home games from 1938 to 2011, should be much better known for many fans. However, the venerable stadium is not completely unused; the second representation and the A-youth team of the 05ers play their home games here.

What the new arena has ahead of the Bruchwegstadion, however, are European Cup games. Just a few months after the move, FSV played in qualifying for the Europa League in 2011, but failed just like in 2015. In the 2016/17 season, the fans experienced three Europa League home games in their new stadium.

The first leg between Mainz and the Lilies ended 0-0 on matchday 11. At the Böllenfalltor, goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen’s team managed not to concede a goal for the first time this season, meaning the SVD fought for its eighth point of the season and was in 15th position in the table.

The Darmstadt team were solid defensively, but rarely took action in the opposing half. The Mainz attacks also rarely led to greater danger. In the overall uneventful first 45 minutes, both teams failed to put the opposing goalkeeper in serious trouble and so they went into the locker room without any goals. There was a little more momentum in the game after half-time, so Onisiwo (51st minute) missed the chance to take the lead, as did Oscar Vilhelmsson (53rd) on the other side.

Ten minutes before the end, the biggest chance of the game so far: Marvin Mehlem sent Vilhelmsson into the penalty area, who was actually already past the defender, but was pushed away at the last second (80th). A little later Fraser Hornby tried a header after being assisted from Aaron Seydel, the ball landed in the arms of the keeper (87′). Just seconds later, things became dangerous in the Lilien penalty area: after a shot from Da Costa, the ball bounced through the penalty area, but ultimately missed the goal. Then it was the Darmstadt team’s turn again, but first Mehlem missed a cross (90th), then Mathias Honsak failed due to a flying save from the keeper (90th). Despite good actions in the final phase, no goals were scored and the game ended in a goalless draw.

Bo Henriksen, head coach of 1. FSV Mainz 05, gave the route at the press conference before the game: “From now on we only have finals! Every game is the most important game. “It starts this Saturday!” said the 49-year-old. The Dane also expects a close game: “It’s a direct relegation duel. That’s why it’s going to be an intense, tough game.“ With the Lilies, an opponent is coming to Mainz who „is fighting for survival just like us.“ According to Henriksen, the SVD can rely primarily on a good transition game and mentality.

With lots of sunshine, temperatures climb to a maximum of 23 degrees Celsius by kick-off. The chance of precipitation in Mainz is 0 percent.

You can watch the Lilies‘ game against FSV from Mainz live on Sky. Klaus Veltmann comments on the individual game. Florian Schmidt-Sommerfeld commented on the conference with all the games on Saturday afternoon. The Sky conference is moderated by Britta Hofmann and the expert is Dietmar Hamann.

Match day! And so back into matchday mode. You can of course follow the duel between the Lilies and 1. FSV Mainz 05 again on Saturday afternoon in the Software AG Matchcenter on our homepage. Just click on the orange button! There we provide you with lots of live data about the game. You can also be there live with our live ticker.

All fans of the Lilies can follow the duel in full length via our live ticker as well as on the fan radio. Current pictures and highlights from the game are also available on Facebook and Twitter. You can get even more live photos on Instagram.