Mainz 05 dream of Europe following latest win: ‘We have to believe.’ | OneFootball

The flip side of Saturday’s Bundesliga result that saw Mainz defeat St. Pauli at home featured plenty of optimism from the Mainzer camp. Bo Henriksen’s Rheinhessen concluded February undefeated. After a poor start to their home form this season, Mainz have won seven of their last eight home league fixtures and sit fifth in the Bundesliga. A 38-point-haul through 23 matchdays bodes well for European qualification.

“Master Motivator” Henriksen has the team purring. Everything about the latest win conformed with the identity the Danish head coach has constructed for his team, right down to aggressive midfielder/central defender Dominik Kohr setting a new Bundesliga record with his tenth booking of the season. Kohr has collected double digit number of yellow cards for the third season in a row and six overall.

Kohr wasn’t necessarily the focus of Henriksen, midfield linchpin Nadiem Amiri, or club sporting director Nico Bungert when it came to conducting their post match interviews with Sky Germany. Henriksen made an oblique reference to the player he has publicly chastised when speaking of the “not so good game” his team played. Apart from that, the focus was on Europe.

“We have to believe in it,” Amiri said. “Everyone has to believe in it: the whole city, the fans, the stadium [crowd] – everyone. Then maybe something big is possible.“

”It would be great to get there,” Bungert added. “But there is still a long way to go.”

“Another win is the next step for Mainz,” Henriksen said. “That’s what was best thing for us today.“

GGFN | Peter Weis