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Bundesliga: Bremen live to fight another day, Mainz stay up

Michael Da Silva
June 20, 2020

Mainz got the three points they needed to stay in the Bundesliga, but Werder Bremen are edging closer to relegation. They’re not down yet but Fortuna Düsseldorf will have the edge over them on the final day.

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Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Nordphoto

Mainz 3-1 Werder Bremen, Opel Arena
(Quaison 25‘, Boetius 30', Fernandes 85' – Osako 58')

Werder Bremen's Bundesliga future is no longer in their own hands. A first relegation in 40 years is now a very real possibility after a damaging defeat by Mainz, whose three points confirms their Bundesliga status for next season.

Werder Bremen's fate is now in Fortuna Düsseldorf's hands.

Bremen won praise for their performance against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, but their failure to take any points from a game in which they played well has been typical of their season. Too good to go down, they said, but Bremen are showing that it takes more than talented individuals to create an effective football team.

Florian Kohfeldt's side started brightly in Mainz against a team who had failed to win a single game at home or even score a goal at home since the Bundesliga restarted last month. But Bremen faded quickly, and two goals in five first-half minutes from Robin Quaison and then Jean-Paul Boetius quickly exposed Bremen's soft underbelly.

Mainz celebrate at full time, but there was a very different mood among the Werder Bremen players.
Mainz celebrate at full time, but there was a very different mood among the Werder Bremen players.Image: Getty Images/L. Pfaffenbach

Mainz came into the game with momentum following their shock win at Dortmund on Wednesday and, despite Yuya Osako pulling one back for Bremen, Edimilson Fernandes sealed the win late on for Mainz.

The damage for Bremen was really done in Düsseldorf though, where Fortuna picked up a point against Augsburg to put them in the driving seat on the final day. Bremen will be relieved that Fortuna didn't get all three points, a result that would have sent them down.

All of the goals Bremen conceded were avoidable. For all the bad luck, bad signings and injuries that have beset them, slack defending has too often been the root cause of their problems on the field, and questions must and likely will be asked of the work their coach Florian Kohfeldt is doing on the training ground. The stock of the 2018 Bundesliga coach of the year is falling fast.

Bremen have one last throw of the dice on the final day of the season against Cologne, while Düsseldorf know a win in Berlin against Union will put them in the relegation play-off and send Bremen down. Since the Bundesliga's inception in 1963, Werder Bremen have spent more seasons than any club in it. That record is now in serious jeopardy.