"It has to be tough to play against Mainz 05"

Just a few hours after the emotional, last-minute victory over ACF Fiorentina in the Conference League, Bo Henriksen was back in action as he held a press conference ahead of his side’s upcoming Bundesliga away game. Mainz 05 are eagerly awaiting a chance to finally celebrate some crucial domestic points to complement their European success. They have an opportunity to do that this weekend, as they travel to Frankfurt with an expected 5,000 supporters in tow. Kick-off is set for 19:30 CET on Sunday.

Eintracht Frankfurt were also in action in Europe during the week, taking a point against Napoli in the Champions League. Domestically, the side with Jonny Burkardt as their frontman are performing somewhat below expectations. The former 05er has scored six league goals so far this season; however, his side remain in eighth place on fourteen points:

Henriksen on...

…a successful night against Fiorentina: “We’re feeling good, as we fought hard and tried everything to get the three points. The analytics have backed us up in this respect. We played well for a large majority of the 90 minutes, but there’s still work to be done. We have to be cleverer where we’re conceding, and we need to make sure we’re sticking to the plan in all phases of the game. I was proud of the boys. Every single player was determined to win that game. The four substitutions were crucial in pulling off the comeback.”

...the last-minute winner: “That was incredible, the best celebrations that I’ve ever seen from the sidelines. It was all so crazy, I was almost a little on edge! But it was so much fun, we need experiences like that. It may not have been the best game we’ve played, but we kept fighting and tried whatever we could to make it work. These are incredible moments in all of our lives, and not just in footballing terms. The game against Werder Bremen was when it started to really click for us. We know what we have to do now if we want to win a game. When we’re firing like this, it’s difficult to play against us. It has to be tough to play against Mainz 05. It needs to be a challenge for anyone. That’s in our DNA, and it has to be the case when we play Frankfurt on Sunday.”

...the squad situation: “We got it right regarding the rotation against Fiorentina. Everyone is 100% ready to go and can more or less play 90 minutes. We’ll have all the options available on Sunday.”

...the next opponent: “I think that they’ll start their strongest team. It’s the final game ahead of the international break. We’ve been analysing them closely and we understand what’s coming our way. We’re prepared and we know what we want. It’s going to be quite an exciting game, which is important for us. A game against Frankfurt is always intense, but a lot of fun as well.”