Mainz professionals credit ‘awesome and outstanding’ fans for helping fuel historic Conference League win | OneFootball

Mainz 05 may have spent the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign fending off relegation, but the support of their hometown fans during the historic Conference League run has never wavered. After playing their respective parts in the Thursday night UECL win that saw Mainz punch through to the quarterfinals, Rheinhessen professionals Stefan Posch and Danny da Costa took an opportunity to thank the fans for another night of gorgeous choreos. 

Another magical European evening in Mainz

Da Costa was around for the first two wins during the UECL group phase this past autumn. Mainz supporters in the ultra section really delivered during the late October home victory over Zrinjski Mostar, not to mention the next big three-pointer against ACF Fiorentina a couple of weeks later.

Thanks to Mainz’s strong UECL group phase, the Bundesliga representatives were able to bypass the playoff phase of the competition and – before the calendar year even turned – become the farthest advancing German team in the (albeit short) history of the competition. 

Posch – brought back to the Bundesliga by Mainz during the January transfer window – hadn’t had a chance to experience the Thursday night atmosphere at the MEWA Arena yet. The former Hoffenheim mainstay picked a fabulous moment to score his first goal in the colors of his new club. 

Posch and da Costa thank the fans

“That [atmosphere] was just outstanding and awesome,” Posch remarked in the mixed zone. “We paid them back. We were called upon to make history and that’s precisely what we did. We’re on the right track. We’re there when the pressure’s on. We have to keep going like this. Hopefully, the atmosphere will be like this for our next game.“

“Everyone got a little caught up in the atmosphere because European nights are just something special,” da Costa – who does have some European night experience from his Eintracht Frankfurt days under his belt -. “You don’t get them often in your career. One loved them even as a kid. Being part of it myself now makes it all the more special. That might have brought out that extra bit of effort in me today.”

Get German Football News | Peter Weis