fear the wall 
12-03-2024 20:02
12-03-2024 20:02
Looking Around the League: Kane Hat Trick Helps Bayern Pile on Mainz Misery
We have completed one more week of European and domestic football, and Bayer Leverkusen remain undefeated in all competitions. I thought that Leverkusen had lost a game in the DFB-Pokal so were “only” going for an unbeaten Bundesliga season, but sure enough, they’re attempting to do something even more absurd.
After a close call against Qarabag in the Europa League, Leverkusen kept up their march toward their first league title with a victory against Wolfsburg on Sunday.
I am guessing they will slip up somewhere, but if they finished the season unbeaten in all competitions, that would be absurd. Here is how the rest of Matchday 25 played out:
Results
VfB Stuttgart 1-0 FC Heidenheim
Bayern Munich 8-1 Mainz
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-3 FC Köln
RB Leipzig 2-0 Darmstadt
Werder Bremen 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
VfL Bochum 1-2 Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Hoffenheim
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Wolfsburg
Standings How Bad are Mainz?
I can answer my own question right away - Mainz are very bad. I am less sure if they are relegation-bad. I have spent all season insisting that they’re too good to go down and believed that Mainz would eventually pick things up and leapfrog the worse teams around them. Their performance at the weekend didn’t do my position any favors.
Losing 8-1 under any circumstances is a pretty bad sign, but when you look at the underlying numbers you often find that the team putting up that many goals ran extremely hot in the process, but not here. Bayern Munich put up a whopping 6.41 xG versus Mainz’s 0.84. The thumping Mainz faced was, give or take a goal, exactly what they deserved.
With just nine games left to save themselves and nine points adrift of guaranteed safety, I think it’s fair to assume that Mainz (and Köln, who are just two points above them) are fighting for the chance to contest their Bundesliga status in the promotion/relegation playoff. I still feel like Mainz should have enough to climb above the even more woeful Köln, and the Bundesliga team is usually a good bet to survive in the playoffs, but shipping eight goals has definitely put a dent in my confidence.
Your Thoughts?
Do you think Mainz are doomed, or can they claw their way out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves?
After a close call against Qarabag in the Europa League, Leverkusen kept up their march toward their first league title with a victory against Wolfsburg on Sunday.
I am guessing they will slip up somewhere, but if they finished the season unbeaten in all competitions, that would be absurd. Here is how the rest of Matchday 25 played out:
Results
VfB Stuttgart 1-0 FC Heidenheim
Bayern Munich 8-1 Mainz
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-3 FC Köln
RB Leipzig 2-0 Darmstadt
Werder Bremen 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
VfL Bochum 1-2 Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Hoffenheim
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Wolfsburg
Standings How Bad are Mainz?
I can answer my own question right away - Mainz are very bad. I am less sure if they are relegation-bad. I have spent all season insisting that they’re too good to go down and believed that Mainz would eventually pick things up and leapfrog the worse teams around them. Their performance at the weekend didn’t do my position any favors.
Losing 8-1 under any circumstances is a pretty bad sign, but when you look at the underlying numbers you often find that the team putting up that many goals ran extremely hot in the process, but not here. Bayern Munich put up a whopping 6.41 xG versus Mainz’s 0.84. The thumping Mainz faced was, give or take a goal, exactly what they deserved.
With just nine games left to save themselves and nine points adrift of guaranteed safety, I think it’s fair to assume that Mainz (and Köln, who are just two points above them) are fighting for the chance to contest their Bundesliga status in the promotion/relegation playoff. I still feel like Mainz should have enough to climb above the even more woeful Köln, and the Bundesliga team is usually a good bet to survive in the playoffs, but shipping eight goals has definitely put a dent in my confidence.
Your Thoughts?
Do you think Mainz are doomed, or can they claw their way out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves?