Opponent Check: 1. FSV Mainz

15 years later, 1. FSV Mainz 05 can be counted as a seasoned Bundesliga team. In 2011, they even had a brief taste of the European football, but failed to qualify for the Europa League. Things went better five years later: In the 2016/17 season, Mainz, then under coach Martin Schmidt, played in the group phase of the Europa League, but were eliminated in third place. Years followed in the second half of the Bundesliga table for FSV. The last two seasons went much better, under coach Bo Svensson the team reached eighth and ninth place with 46 points each, it almost smelled like they would qualify for European business again.

But this season should be completely different. After nine match days, FSV only had three points, their first win only came on November 4th at home against Champions League participants Leipzig, with interim coach Jan Siewert sitting in the coaching bench. He had previously taken over the coaching position from Bo Svensson. Just a week later, Mainz were guests at the Böllenfalltor and the game ended 0-0. Siewert’s coaching time started with four points from two games, but the positive start fizzled out and Mainz only got four points from the remaining six games of the first half of the season, all of them in a draw. The Mainz team only picked up their next victory on their next coaching debut: on Matchday 22, Bo Henriksen was on the sidelines for the first time and saw a 1-0 home win against FC Augsburg. His team really came under attack on Matchday 25, with keeper Robin Zentner conceding eight times in the Allianz Arena. However, the team’s reaction was remarkable; Mainz took four points in the last two Bundesliga games. After a 2-0 home win against VfL Bochum, Henriksen’s team scored a point in Leipzig with a 0-0 draw. We’ll take a closer look at the Lilies‘ upcoming opponents before the away game on Saturday (April 6th/3:30pm). 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the opponent check.

“At the very end of my career I would like to become the Danish national coach. You have to think big, dream big,” said Bo Henriksen in an interview with “Kicker” in November 2023. At that time, the 49-year-old was still the coach of the Swiss first division club FC Zurich, and since mid-February of this year he has been the trainer of 1. FSV Mainz . The Dane talks about “thinking big” and “dreaming big”, but now his only concern in Mainz is to stay in the league. He previously showed in Zurich that he can do that: after a botched start to the season, Henriksen took over FCZ in last place in the table in autumn 2022, but in the end secured their status with a 13-point lead over FC Sion. According to him, the most important thing back then was to develop a concept quickly. He mainly relied on leading players who had to be found sooner. “If you want players to fight for you so you can make them better, you have to trust them and convey that to them. That sounds simple, but it is also difficult. Because you have to put a lot of power and energy into it. There’s always a lot to tell,” says Henriksen about his personal recipe for success.

At his previous club, the 49-year-old showed that he is not the classic fireman for clubs in danger of relegation. In the summer of 2021, Henriksen became head coach at FC Midtjylland and then runner-up and cup winners with the Danes. But despite the successful year, he only stayed with the Danish first division club for one season and was released in July 2022. From 2014 to 2020, the former striker worked as head coach at AC Horsens, which he led back to the Superliga – the top Danish league – in 2016. Previously, he was coach at Brønshøj BK since 2007, for whom he played until 2011. With Brønshøj he achieved promotion to the second Danish league in 2010, which he was able to hold until the end of his tenure in 2014.

As a player, Bo Henriksen could certainly be described as a wandering bird. After a few stints in Denmark, he played in England for Kidderminster Harriers and Bristol Rovers from 2001. The Dane had the most changes in 2005, in that calendar year he played for Køge BK (Denmark), Valur Reykjavík (Iceland), Fram Reykjavík (Iceland) and Victory SC (Maldives). The last stop in his career was the aforementioned club Brønshøj BK in Denmark, where he worked as a player-coach for four years and then as head coach for three more years.

The Mainz team has definitely internalised the term “relegation battle”. With 361 fouls of their own, the 05ers have the highest number in the league, an average of 13.37 fouls per game. For comparison: FC Heidenheim committed the second most fouls with 341 fouls. FSV is also at the top when it comes to cards; a Mainz player has already received a personal punishment 81 times, only Bochum with 83 cards has a higher value. But are fouls and cards the showpiece of a club? Yes. If you can benefit from exactly this tough approach. With 2,845 duels won, Henriksen’s team ranks second, as well as headers won (665).

Although Mainz cannot be said to be really strong at home, all three wins of the season were at least achieved at home, most recently before the international break on Matchday 26 against VfL Bochum with a 2-0 win. Also noteworthy are the only 16 goals conceded in home games, the sixth best figure in the league.

Well known in Darmstadt, at least in the youth sector: Jonathan “Jonny” Burkardt. The 23-year-old striker has been part of FSV Mainz 05 since 2014, matured into a junior national player with the Rheinhessen team and won the U21 European Championship title and is, for some, the German hope for a striker in the coming years. By the way, without any social media presence, Burkardt cannot be found on the usual platforms – rather untypical for a 23-year-old.

But the 23-year-old prefers to concentrate purely on sport. With four goals, the Darmstadt native is his team’s most successful goalscorer this season, even though he missed the first eleven games due to knee surgery and a subsequent lack of training. The striker has scored three times in the last four games, including twice in the home win against Bochum. What is striking is that Burkardt has scored all his goals at home so far.

Review. He made his Bundesliga debut in September 2018 in the home game against FC Augsburg; at the age of 18 at the time, he was in the starting line-up. In the 2018/19 season, the striker was mainly used in the A-Youth Bundesliga, where he impressed with eight goals and four assists in twelve games. In the following season, the attacker was in the squad most of the time, but only made eight Bundesliga appearances. This would finally change in 2020/21, under the coaches Achim Beierlorzer, Jan-Moritz Lichte, Jan Siewert and Bo Svensson, the talented striker made 29 Bundesliga appearances, even if it was only enough for two goals and two assists. But these values improved in the 2021/22 season. Burkardt played in all 34 games and scored eleven goals and three assists.

At the start of the 2022/23 season, the striker missed the first two Bundesliga games due to thigh problems, and until the winter break, which began in November, he only managed one goal against Eintracht Frankfurt. This was supposed to be his last game of the season, after which he had knee surgery that affected him until this season. He celebrated his comeback against Hoffenheim in November – a long 378 days after his last Bundesliga appearance.

On New Year’s Day this year, 1. FSV Mainz 05 announced the contract extension until 2027 with their striker, who would like to fully develop his potential in the rest of the season in order to save the 05ers from relegation. „I’ll be a 05er for ten years next summer, I’m very happy in my club and I’m eager to make my contribution so that we can turn this season into a positive together in the second half of the season,“ said Burkardt when extending his contract.

And although Burkardt is now completing his sixth season in the Bundesliga, the name does not yet seem to be completely clear everywhere. “There seems to be no other Burkardt that is spelled with a “dt” and without an “h,” said the striker in an interview about the fact that his name has even been misspelled on scoreboards in stadiums.