VfL Wolfsburg completely screwed up the dress rehearsal for the decisive group game in the Champions League.
With the 0: 3 (0: 2) at FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga, the team of coach Florian Kohfeldt missed the turnaround and after the promising start under the new coach has now been waiting for a win for four competitive games.
Four days before the game against OSC Lille, the Wolves had to admit defeat after early hits by Mainz's Jonathan Burkardt (2nd) and Anton Stach (4th). Maxence Lacroix (90th) made the final score with an own goal. In the group final of the premier class on Wednesday, VfL must improve, then the Lower Saxony absolutely need a success to advance. In Mainz Kohfeldt had to do without goalkeeper Koen Casteels again. The captain could return against Lille after his corona infection. Compared to the defeat against Borussia Dortmund (1: 3) only Paulo Otavio moved into the starting line-up for Jerome Roussillon.
The Wolfsburg completely overslept the start in front of 10,000 fans. After a nice teamwork between Jae-Sung Lee and Leandro Barreiro, Burkardt converted the game's first chance ice cold. Shortly afterwards, Stach hit from distance, VfL goalkeeper Pavao Pervan saw the ball late. For Mainz it was the fastest double strike in club history in the Bundesliga. Kohfeldt raged after the catastrophic start of his team and threw his winter jacket on the bench. His attempts to wake up the team, however, came to nothing.
The VfL acted completely insecure, revealed huge gaps on the defensive and had big problems with the intense game of the team of coach Bo Svensson. Mainz, on the other hand, showed a good grip and could have gone into the break with an even higher lead. In the only offensive action from Wolfsburg, Aster Vranckx (21st) put a free kick on the post. The Rheinhessen, on the other hand, came to dangerous deals through Leandro Barreiro (18th) and Burkardt (41st / 42nd).
Kohfeldt reacted at halftime and brought three fresh forces in Yannick Gerhardt, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Kevin Mbabu.
The guests became a bit more active at the beginning of the second round, but still hardly came to a clear conclusion.
Above all, the Mainz team played their part in this with a more committed appearance.
Svensson's team was defensively safe and won the decisive duels in midfield.
Individual pinpricks, such as the deals by Silvan Widmer (67th) and Burkardt (75th), kept the Wolfsburg defense busy in the final phase.