'Small' clubs, big ambitions | OneFootball

How Mainz, Freiburg, Augsburg and Heidenheim are finding intelligent ways to punch above their weight

Mainz Freiburg and Augsburg and are among the Bundesliga's biggest surprise packages this season. All three are challenging for European qualification, despite few having tipped them to do so, with each finding intelligent ways to punch above their weight. So how are they doing it?

Mainz: smart coaching

Mainz coach Bo Henriksen was first appointed to his role with seven games left of the 2023/24 season. The Carnival Club were second-from-bottom in the Bundesliga and staring relegation in the face. Even after the Dane steered them to safety, nobody expected them to be challenging for European qualification this season, let alone see them sitting in third place after 26 games. Yet here they are.

This has been achieved, in part, thanks to an attacking style which gets the most out of the players at Henriksen’s disposal. In order to make the most of a hard-to-pin-down presence up front in the form of Jonathan Burkardt, Mainz waste no time in getting the ball forward as quickly as possible, before supporting the Germany international with intelligent midfield runners. They rank second this season for clearances per 90 minutes (28.9), third for possession won in the final third per 90 (4.3) and second for interceptions per match (10.2).

Watch: Mainz's top-four push under the microscope

Julian Schuster and Noah Atubolu (l-r.) have both been with Freiburg for many years. (IMAGO/Grant Hubbs)

Burkardt has scored 15 goals already this season – the joint third-highest tally in the division – while Mainz have conceded the second-fewest (28) of all teams, thanks to a solid defence protected by Kaishu Sano and Nadiem Amiri.

In a league filled with teams looking to patiently build up play from the back, Mainz are happy to get the ball forward and rush opponents high up the pitch, making them an extremely difficult opponent to both defend and score against.

Finn Dahmen is putting in some record-breaking displays between the Augsburg goal-posts. (IMAGO/kolbert-press/ Martin Agüera)

Freiburg: Homegrown talents

Few expected Freiburg to be mixing it with the European hopefuls this season after waving goodbye to legendary coach Christian Streich last summer, but that is precisely what they’re doing – currently sitting in sixth place, three points off the top four, with eight games remaining.

That’s been achieved thanks, in no small part, to a contingent of academy graduates in the playing squad and the dugout. Streich’s replacement, Julian Schuster, has been at Freiburg for 16 years, including 10 as a player. He was even teammates with nine of the current squad, many of whom have praised his transition from peer to leader.

Among the side’s key performers this season are Matthias Ginter, Christian Günter, Max Rosenfelder and goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, who has kept 10 clean sheets and saved four penalties in 23 appearances this season.

“I’m incredibly proud to be one of many players to have come from the youth team,” Atubolu told bundesliga.com in March. “We’re not just random players; we know the club inside out. We’re a core part of the team’s success this season. That’s exactly what we want to continue. It’s really exciting because we don’t have the financial means like Leipzig or Bayern Munich to buy players for huge sums. Freiburg work differently and we’re successful with this approach, which makes it even more special.”

Augsburg: Rearguard action

As an old saying, often attributed to legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, goes, “Attack wins you games; defence wins you titles”. While Augsburg have no realistic ambitions of winning the Bundesliga, they do have their stubborn defence to thank for a stunning 2024/25 campaign so far.

Jess Thorup’s side are on a run of six games (three wins, three draws) without conceding a single goal. Goalkeeper Finn Dahmen goes into the international break on a run of 613 minutes without letting the ball hit the back of his net – a record which has moved him into the Bundesliga’s all-time top 10 for the statistic – with many tipping him for a Germany call-up in the near future.

Augsburg have only the 15th-best attack in the Bundesliga (with 29 scored goals in 26 games), but boast the fifth-best defence (35 conceded). Ninth in the table and just four points off the European places, they’re proof that solid rearguard action can carry a club to success.

Heidenheim: Team spirit

“Our success is based on team spirit,” said Heidenheim captain Patrick Mainka en route to his side finishing eighth in their debut top-flight campaign last season. While most players will talk up the team spirit at their club, few mean it as much, or say it as often, as Heidenheim’s players.

”We’re the underdogs,” added last season’s top scorer Tim Kleindienst, who joined Borussia Mönchengladbach before the start of the 2024/25 season. “We survive thanks to our unity, our will and our mentality.”

“Our togetherness is everything to us,” midfielder Jan Schöppner said on the eve of the new season. “We stop at nothing for one another. We have the coach to thank for this.”

See? We weren’t kidding. Head coach Frank Schmidt took charge of Heidenheim – a town with just 50,000 inhabitants – back in 2007, and through hard work and a philosophy of unity, dragged them to three promotions and into Europe last term. Some of his players have been on the entire journey with him, while many others remember playing third- and second-tier football.

This is seen in their style of football, where despite sitting in the relegation zone this season, they have continued to fight for one another, ranking in the Bundesliga’s top 10 for duels won, aerial duels won and total distance covered. Times might be tough but, thanks to the journey they’ve been on and the belief instilled in them by their coach, Heidenheim will continue to fight until the very end.

Liked the article? Find more articles on the official Bundesliga App.