Bo Svensson’s record against Bayern was already positive as a player, and as a coach he triumphed in the only comparison in April this year. The last coach to win his first two duels with Bayern, by the way, was Bremen’s Dixie Dörner in 1996.
Svensson would not be Svensson if he imagined what a win at Bayern could mean to him. “I’m not worried about that,” the 42-year-old said dryly at the matchday press conference on Thursday.
In any case, the former centre-back has no lack of positive experiences against the record champions. As a player, he had three victories and two draws against FC Bayern, only losing twice. Add to that the 2:1 on 24 April 2021, the first duel as head coach.
“We can compete with one of the four best teams in the world and we are looking forward to the challenge,” Svensson stressed. In terms of personnel, his squad is unchanged. Alexander Hack, who was a bit injured after the 3:0 against Wolfsburg and had to cut back a little bit in training, has been back since Wednesday.
Trio missing due to injury
Dominik Kohr, Anderson Lucoqui and Jeremiah St. Juste are still missing due to injury. Kohr is making good progress in rehabilitation training with rehab coach Axel Busenkell after his thigh injury, but a comeback before the winter break is unlikely. “We don’t want to take any risks and avoid a new injury. Dominik is a player who also needs training stimuli and intensity to bring his qualities onto the pitch. It is much more sensible to build him up slowly,” Svensson said.
After the 05 game against Wolfsburg left little to be desired, hardly any changes are expected in the starting eleven. However, Svensson said: “We have an English week ahead of us in which we will need more than eleven players. The question is, which qualities do we need on Saturday, which approach is the best to pose big problems to the opponent? There are more than eleven players ready. “
Boetius “will remain valuable “
Against Wolfsburg, Jean-Paul Boetius was rotated to the bench, with Jae-Sung Lee and Leandro Barreiro playing on the double eight. Mainz also gained more access in midfield by bringing Anton Stach in at the six position. “Jean-Paul is having a good week in training. He was a valuable player, he is a valuable player and he will remain a valuable player for us in the future,” Svensson said.
