Mainz eliminated from UEFA Conference League

1. FSV Mainz 05’s European dream has come to an end. The 05ers were deservedly beaten 4-0 by RC Strasbourg in the second leg of their UEFA Conference League quarter-final tie. An even start gave way to Strasbourg dominance, with the French side dominating in every aspect of the game. Mainz’s two-goal lead on aggregate was erased by half time, before the hosts added two more goals to win the tie 4-2 on aggregate. Daniel Batz’s penalty save with the aggregate score at 2-2 kept his team in the tie, but in the end he was powerless to prevent the final result.

Two changes from Sunday’s lineup

Head coach Urs Fischer made two changes to his starting XI from the side that lost to Freiburg. Sheraldo Becker’s ineligibility to play in this season’s Conference League meant that Nelson Weiper partnered Phillip Tietz up front. Silvan Widmer took the place of Niki Veratschnig on the right flank. This meant that the 05ers started with the exact same lineup as they did in the first leg.

Aggregate score level at the break

Fischer said he expected “fireworks” from his side in his pre-match press conference, but also predicted they would have a lot of defending to do early on. This was not the case, as Mainz started well, winning duels and creating chances. Sota Kawasaki was stopped at the last moment within the first three minutes, before Ismaël Doukouré almost turned a Paul Nebel cross into his own net (7’). Aside from a harmless effort from Abdoul Ouattara, Mainz allowed their opponents very little in the first 20 minutes.

Much of the action took place in the middle of the park, but the hosts grew ever stronger and began creating chances of their own. Daniel Batz produced an incredible save to deny Diego Moreira’s acrobatic effort (24’), but was powerless to deny the opener shortly after. Julio Enciso and Ben Chilwell combined down the left-hand side, with the English full-back crossing into the box, where Sebastian Nanasi finished to give Strasbourg the lead on the night (26’). The Stade de la Meinau was bouncing and the hosts kept up their pressure, especially through their wingers, who repeatedly looked to take Mainz’s defenders on one-on-one and deliver crosses into the box. Enciso got down the right-hand side and crossed towards the completely unmarked Ouattara, who headed home the second with ease (35’). The French side had now wiped out the deficit from the first leg and the aggregate score was even. Ouattara nearly added a third straight afterwards, but his volley went just wide. The 05ers lost their grip on the game from this point and began making mistakes. The impressive Enciso pounced on a Mainz mistake and found himself one-on-one with Batz, but the goalkeeper made a sharp save to deny him (40’). The 05ers managed to get to half time without conceding another.

Batz saves penalty, Mainz open at the back

FSV needed a lift after what had been a first half to forget, and Fischer hoped that Nadiem Amiri would be the person to give them just that. Weiper made way for the midfielder. Mainz looked better after the break and enjoyed longer spells of possession, but this didn’t lead to any clear-cut chances. Ten minutes into the half, Nebel was stopped at the last second from reaching Widmer’s cross. Mainz had to do a lot of defending but were still in the game. The next setback almost followed shortly after. Valentin Barco took on Dominik Kohr in the box and beat him, before being brought down by the defender. Referee João Pinheiro pointed to the spot, a decision that was upheld by VAR. Substitute Emmanuel Emegha stepped up to strike, but his effort was tame and Batz made the save (65’).

Strasbourg didn’t let that affect them and were back on the attack just minutes later. The impressive Martial Godo drove in from the right and beat three players before crossing to Enciso, who just had to tap it home to make it 3-0 (70’). Fischer responded by bringing on Armindo Sieb and former Strasbourg man Anthony Caci for Widmer and Kawasaki (72’). Things then went from bad to worse, as once again Mainz allowed Strasbourg too much space, and once again the cross found a free man in the middle. It was Enciso who crossed again and found the unmarked Emegha, who powered his header past Batz to seal the 05ers’ fate (74’). There was no sign of a reaction from Mainz in the remaining minutes. The last 15 minutes saw few chances and the game ended 4-0 – a scoreline reflective of Mainz’s performance. Provocative post-game celebrations by the home side in front of the away support led to a scuffle, much like in the first leg. Once the melee had been broken up, Amiri was shown a red card.