Mainz's season to remember | OneFootball

European 05ers: Mainz and Bo Henriksen have had a season to remember in 2024/25

Bo Henriksen's side secured their place in the UEFA Europa Conference League on the final matchday of the 2024/25 season, something that would have been almost impossible to predict ahead of the campaign given their struggles in 2023/24. bundesliga.com looks at how they returned to European football for the first time in almost ten years.

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The evening of 14 May 2016 saw Mainz play out a goalless draw at home to Hertha Berlin, in a game which saw seven bookings and one red card as the 2015/16 Bundesliga season came to an end.

Some way to spend a Spring afternoon, right? Well, for Mainz and then coach Martin Schmidt, it was almost perfect.

After all, it secured what would be the club’s fourth-ever season playing European football, and their highest league finish since the 2010/11 season under a certain Thomas Tuchel.

Martin Schmidt was the man in charge the last time the club achieved European football. (2016 DFL)

Meanwhile in Denmark, an AC Horsens side including current Union Berlin 'keeper Frederik Rønnow had just finished third in the country’s second division, leading to promotion to the top tier for the first time since their relegation in 2013.

Wait, Denmark?

That’s right, because that’s where the man that would take them back to Europe almost ten years later was hiding – one Bo Henriksen.

Back in the Rhineland, two wins from six games, and a heavy 6-1 defeat away to Anderlecht saw Mainz finish third in Group C of the 2016/17 edition of the UEFA Europa League, seeing them drop out of the competition in a year which also saw them struggle in the Bundesliga.

The 2016/17 season wasn't quite as fruitful for Mainz, as they finished 15th. (imago images / Mika Volkmann)

They collected 37 points in the league, finishing above the relegation play-off spot on goal difference. Back in Denmark, Henriksen’s side finished 10th out of 14 in their league with 29 points.

The two sides picked up a combined 17 wins that season, and 66 points. Just imagine what they could achieve together…

It's been quite a ride since Bo Henriksen took over at Mainz. From fighting relegation to returning to Europe, it's been a big turnaround. (Alex Grimm)

In 2024/25, Henriksen led the 05ers to 14 wins and 10 draws, meaning they finished on 52 points, just three behind Freiburg in fifth. With their Europa Conference League spot confirmed for the 2025/26 season after a 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on the final day of the season, Mainz had successfully fended off competition for their position from RB Leipzig, with the Red Bulls' loss to Stuttgart meaning Henriksen's men finished one point ahead of them in what was a tense final day.

Mainz found themselves 2-1 down with just over half an hour to play after a quickfire double from Patrik Schick, but a Jonathan Burkardt equaliser pulled them back into that final European spot.

Their final tally of 14 wins makes up the majority of Henriksen’s total of 21 in his short time at Mainz, a journey which started in February 2024.

Mainz's survival in the 2023/24 season was cause for celebration, and they've gone from strength to strength since. (IMAGO/Darius Simka)

With just one win from 21 games, Mainz were dwindling in 17th in the second half of the 2023/24 season – a point at which most thought they were destined for Bundesliga 2, somewhere they hadn’t been since the 2008/09 season. Nine points away from outright safety and four away from Cologne in the relegation play-off spot, in stepped the Dane.

Six wins, five draws and only two losses saw Mainz finish in 13th, but their run in those final 13 games had them fifth in the form table, with a point more than Bayern Munich in that time.

Fast forward to 17 May 2025 and the 05ers have once again finished in sixth, the same position they concluded the 2015/16 season in, and are even two points better off.

Of their 14 wins, eight came away from home, highlighting just how tough to beat they’ve become under Henriksen. That toughness stems from the need for intensity that the Dane has drilled into his side since his arrival.

They finished the season top of the Bundesliga tree for intensive runs in 2024/25 with 25718 so far, with midfield gem Paul Nebel finishing first in the individual charts for the same statistic. His midfield partner Kaishu Sano also headed the distance covered metric with an impressive 393.6 km covered, a fitting example of just how hard the side have worked for this season’s success.

All that running needs some end product though -  and that’s where Jonathan Burkardt steps in. His 18 goals fired him to fourth in the scoring charts, and top of Mainz’s all-time Bundesliga leaderboard with 41 in total.

That form saw him break into Germany’s national team too, where he’s since received three senior caps under Julian Nagelsmann after making his debut against Bosnia in October 2024.

He wasn’t the only 05er to catch Nagelsmann’s attention, however, with Nadiem Amiri’s seven goals and five assists this season earning him a first national team call up since 2020. The attacking brilliance of Nebel, Amiri and Burkardt has come from Mainz’s ability to defend from the front and win the ball higher up the pitch, which consequently made them better at defending … from the back.

They had the joint third best defence this season alongside second placed Bayer Leverkusen, conceding just 43 goals and keeping nine clean sheets. Experienced ‘keeper Robin Zentner was key to that proud record, saving 106 of the shots he faced, the third best total in the league.

Thus, from back to front, Mainz were a revelation in 2024/25, and worked their way back to the heights of that spring evening in 2016 under the guidance of one of the league’s brightest coaches.

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