Mainz 05’s season has been extraordinary, Mainz Oberbürgermeister Nino Haase said on the eve of Saturday afternoon’s Mainz vs Bayern match, as he described the club’s Bundesliga survival as all but certain. Haase said the relegation battle is mathematically almost secure and argued that Mainz are now entering the game with a different kind of confidence.
“Es war eine außergewöhnliche Saison, das muss man schon sagen,” Haase said, adding that the club had been through many international nights this year and that the return leg against Strasbourg marked the end of the final 05ers international run. He also said Mainz have often responded to a weak first half of the season with a much stronger second half, and that pattern could help them avoid relegation early in future Bundesliga campaigns.
The timing matters because Mainz host Bayern Munich on Saturday afternoon after a season in which the club has spent more time in Europe than many had expected. Haase said the team’s performances have given the city reasons to believe it could again be involved internationally in a good year over the next few seasons, pointing to the training grounds, the stadium, the youth academy and the new buildings at Bruchweg as signs of a club infrastructure that has grown with its ambitions.
That backdrop gives the match a sharper edge. Mainz were the last team to beat Bayern away from home, doing so in December 2024, and Haase did not hide the confidence that history has given the club. “Wir sind der Angstgegner von Bayern München,” he said. The line fits a side that has turned a demanding season into one that now looks like a success, but it also underlines the tension in a fixture Bayern rarely approach lightly.
The story beyond Saturday is whether Mainz can turn this season’s momentum into something more durable. Haase’s view is that the club is no longer fighting only to survive; it is building for years in which it can finish the Bundesliga job earlier and, in the right year, return to the European stage again.
