Eintracht Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Mainz have a three-game schedule and their weekend opponent is Hamburg, who are also in the final round of qualifying, but Mainz's UEFA Cup opponent is Sevilla, the best team in the history of the UEFA Cup, and Hamburg's opponent is the Danish side Copenhagen, which is obviously more beneficial to Hamburg, not to mention that Mainz is still playing away from home, and Hamburg is hosting Copenhagen. ”

Not only this one, but also in the fourth round of the league against Hamburg and then in Spain for the game against Sevilla, two days after that game, Mainz will once again win at home to another big side in the UEFA Cup, Stuttgart.

Stuttgart's opponents are Slovenian First Division side Domsale and it was an easy game.

When the schedules of the three teams are intertwined, the only one who is unlucky is Mainz.

Hamburg's head coach Klaus Topmüller said: "We are more focused on the game against Mainz, they are a strong team and a win against Mainz in the league will have a big impact on the results of the first half of the league for Hamburg, yes, we have to field a full squad. ”

In contrast, Jurgen Klopp was careful and started practicing tactics in advance, with Link, Warnes and Kanna all needing to rest to prepare for the game in five days.

In this lineup, Rorick Cana has both offensive and defensive tasks, so the distance he runs in each game is about 10,000 meters.

This is not ten years later, but now, physical contact and physical confrontation are very strong, and running 10,000 meters in 90 minutes in a race is a symbol of the endurance maniac.

Jurgen Klopp is unable to play because he believes his involvement in this game will affect Rorick Cana's form against Sevilla.

In addition, Ben Arfa was told in advance by Klopp that he would be on the bench, and his stamina is also a big problem.

Among the people at the top of the midfield, only Wang Zhen, Ribery, and Misimovic have enough physical strength to support the five-day doubles.

Mainz didn't want to postpone the fourth round of the league or the fifth round of the league, but Hamburg and Stuttgart did not agree.

They are also aiming to break through the group stage of the UEFA Cup or even go further, and they want to rest for this kind of game that they can rest, and they don't want to put the game on Christmas Eve or the second half of the fixture, who knows what will happen then?

On September 10, Mainz welcomed Bundesliga giants Hamburg at their home stadium at the Bluche Stadium.

If it is ten years later, Hamburg is not very strong, but in the past few years, it is the strongest period for Hamburg, this season Hamburg's first team and reserve team have expanded to a terrifying 60 people, and their purpose is the same as Mainz, that is, the League Cup, the league, the German Cup, all must be contested.

First of all, Bayern's current coach Magath does have a few brushes, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that his control over Bayern is gradually declining, and no one knows whether it will collapse this year or next season.

Secondly, this season, Hamburg has a sufficient budget, crazy reinforcements, and selected several good seedlings from the second-tier team to enter the first team, which is really a time when the soldiers are strong, and there is no reason not to fight for honor.

Hamburg's goal this season is simple, to pick up points in the first half of the season, to focus on the cup in the second half of the season, aiming for the UEFA Cup title, while the league is aiming for a Champions League place, and if the league collapses in the second half of the UEFA Cup, it will be a German Cup.

Hamburg's concerns are not unfounded, and in recent seasons, almost all of the teams in the Bundesliga that have hit Europe have collapsed on both fronts in the second half of the season, and some teams have even fallen directly into the relegation zone.

Including Mainz's plan, it's the same as Hamburg's.

There is only one reason, the traditional powerhouses Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich, Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin, Stuttgart, and Bayer Leverkusen have all qualified for European competition this season.

In the Bundesliga, this is almost equivalent to announcing that there will be a crazy reshuffle this season, and no other team except Bayern Munich is stable.

In this season's offseason recruitment, only Mainz got an A, Hamburg is the only A+ level, and the other teams are more miserable.

The two teams collided, and it was indeed Hamburg who took a big advantage.

Sometimes, a football match is just a matter of 90 minutes, and sometimes, a game is completely tied to the fate of a team.

The only problem is that neither manager nor Klopp nor Klaus Topmuller can guess what the opposing starting line-up is.

It wasn't until the night before the game that the media got their hands on the starting lists of both sides that it sparked a new round of discussion.

"It's understandable that Hamburg sent all the main players to play, after all, the final round of qualifiers for the League Cup, or the first round of preliminaries before the group stage, Hamburg has won steadily, but Mainz's lineup is incomprehensible, they have neither sent all the substitutes, nor the determination to win the whole team, does Klopp think he can win Hamburg with half a team? Without the courage to break through, Mainz's journey in the League Cup has been overshadowed in advance. ”

"Sevilla are indeed a strong team, but they are not necessarily much stronger than Mainz, and Mainz's determination should be to win the UEFA Cup, in this case, Wang Zhen and Ribery should not be sent to the league to play."

The comments of the media are nonsense and alarmist?

Facts have proved that they are right, this lineup that is semi-main and has not been run-in has encountered Hamburg and was beaten so that it could not find the north.

In this game, Wang Zhen was strictly defended, without Roric Cana, Mainz's middle defense was almost in a bloody state, Canna's fierce playing style and technical flow of Mainz were incompatible, but when Canna rested, Mainz's weaknesses were exposed, without his defense, Mainz who played like art was as fragile as a work of art.

And Klopp still insisted on attacking, without the slightest idea of defense.

Mainz ushered in its first heavy defeat of the season at home, Hamburg 3-0 bloodbath.

Hamburg's main striker duo of Meedy and Amler combined for two goals, while Dutchman Van der Vaart provided two assists on the left side of Mainz's middle.

Wang Zhen did not score in two consecutive games, and the goal drought came quietly.

In this game, Mainz's attack was placed on Mimoen and Karankika, and Klopp asked Ribery to try to conserve his strength and touch less football.

So Ribery, like Wang Zhen, experienced the most painful game of the season, seeing the team overturned by Hamburg, but there was nothing he could do.

In the face of such a result, the media bluntly said: "Klopp has paid a heavy penalty for his youth and arrogance, and after this game, the mentality of the whole team of Mainz will collapse, and quickly fall out of the illusion of indomitable progress at the beginning of the season, and Mainz will collapse in this schedule!" ”

After two consecutive defeats, Mainz dropped six points to seventh place in the league.

Mainz didn't bother with any of this at all, and the whole of Mainz went into training immediately after a day's rest.

Early on the morning of May 13, the Mainz team flew to Sevilla two days ahead of schedule to meet the first challenge of the UEFA Cup.