Borussia Mönchengladbach host FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) in a Bundesliga match featuring a familiar face in the dugout and an injury blow for the visitors. Gladbach's interim boss Jan-Moritz Lichte faces his former club, while Mainz will be without their first-choice goalkeeper Robin Zentner due to a hand injury.
Gladbach enter the fixture on the back of a 3-4 home defeat to Mainz just under two weeks ago and sit bottom of the table with zero points from four matches. Lichte, who took over following Gerardo Seoane's dismissal, knows Mainz inside out. He served as assistant coach under Sandro Schwarz and Achim Beiersdorfer at the club from 2017 to 2020 and even held interim responsibility for three months before Bo Svensson's arrival. Mainz coach Urs Fischer stated that preparing for Gladbach is not made more complicated by their change of manager.
Zentner Absence and Fischer's Philosophy
Mainz are missing a key player. Goalkeeper Robin Zentner suffered a hand injury in the 1-3 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt and will be out for several weeks. Alexander Schwolow will replace him between the posts. It remains uncertain if Zentner will return after the upcoming international break.
Despite the recent defeat, Fischer is sticking with his faith in young players. Centre-backs Kacper Potulski and Fabio Gruber, who made errors against Frankfurt, will not be dropped from the starting lineup. "I was a professional player myself for 20 years." said Fischer. He stressed that young players must be allowed to make mistakes as long as they learn from them.
Moving On from Frankfurt Setback
The team has reviewed the Frankfurt loss, where they lacked basics in the first half. An incident involving Nadiem Amiri, who threw his shirt onto the pitch after a failed pass from Sheraldo Becker, has also been resolved. "We looked at it together and cleared the matter up," Fischer said. Amiri has been called up for the first two international matches under Jürgen Klopp, which Fischer views positively. Nine players from his squad will join their national teams after the weekend.
For Gladbach, the match is a chance to break a negative trend. They have lost their last four Bundesliga games, most recently the high-scoring 3-4 encounter with this same opponent. In that match, Florian Neuhaus, Isac Lidberg and Shuto Machino from the penalty spot scored for Gladbach. However, defensive issues persist; with 16 goals conceded in four games, they have the league's leakiest defence.
Lichte's task is clear: the team must become more solid and secure their first point of the season. A positive result would set the tone for preparation ahead of the Rhineland derby away to 1. FC Köln on October 11th, their next assignment after the international break. Köln currently sit in 12th place.
First reported at FAZ Sport
