Rosenborg v Mainz 05: UEFA Conference League preview, team news & predicted lineups | OneFootball

In their first continental fixture since the 2016/17 Europa League group stage, Mainz travel to Rosenborg for the first-leg of a Conference League playoff tie.

Rosenborg

The 26-time Norwegian champions last played in the group stage of a European competition when they finished with a single point in the 2019/20 Europa League. They lost to PSV in the following season’s playoff round for Conference League qualification.

Last season’s fourth-placed finish in Eliteserien was enough to put them in the Second Round of the Conference League qualifiers. After two-legged victories over Lithuanian cup winners Banga (7-0) and Hammarby IF(1-0), Rosenborg are now one tie away from reaching the league phase of this tournament for the first time.

Alfred Johansson’s side last played a league game at the start of the month when they lost 4-1 to KFUM. Their upcoming league fixture is also postponed so that the fifth-placed team can prepare for next week’s game in Mainz.

Team news

The departures of Sverre Nypan (Man City) and Marius Broholm (Lille) earned the club over €20 million this summer, but they only spent €3.25 million on reinforcements. The young coach started both Ole Sæter and Dino Islamovic up front in last week’s win in Hammarby. The latter scored half of their goals (4/8) so far in the competition.

Mainz 05

The 05ers had a hard-fought domestic tie on Monday in Dresden. Nadiem Amiri’s direct free-kick saw them progress to the second round, but the gritty win was shadowed by incidents reported after the game.

The matchwinner Amiri and Arnaud Nourdin received racial abuse on social media, and there were other similar incidents in the opening round of the DFB-Pokal. The club showed solidarity with the players by sharing a message on their platforms.

Mainz will now face Rosenborg twice, either side of their Bundesliga opener against Köln on Sunday. Bundesliga clubs struggled in the first four editions of the competition, but all of them managed to, at least, qualify for the group stage (league phase).

Team news

There is no injury concern for Henriksen, but Nelson Weiper is currently training with the second team after a disagreement with the club over signing a new deal. The German U21 international was expected to play a big role after Jonathan Burkardt’s departure, but he could now leave the club he joined at the age of 7.

Rosenborg v Mainz 05: Predicted lineups

Rosenborg: Tangvik; Pereira, Nemcik, Ceide, Witry; Nordli, Väänänen, Selnæs ©; Reitan-Sunde; Sæter, Islamovic

Mainz: Zentner; da Costa, Bell, Kohr; Nordin, Sano, Amiri, Widmer ©; Sieb, Nebel, Hollerbach