From relegation battles to Europe for Mainz?

When Bo Henriksen arrived from FC Zürich in February with the 05ers a massive nine points adrift of safety, the expectation was that Mainz were preparing for life back in the second tier, but the Danish coach doesn’t seem to care much about what’s being said on the outside.

Watch: Henriksen: "We work really hard"

Having staged arguably their most epic survival push yet with five wins in an unbeaten eight-game run to end the campaign, there was bad news to come as star performers Brajan Gruda, Leandro Barreiro and Sepp van den Berg all waved goodbye, lowering expectations once more.

However, rather miraculously, Henriksen has again exceeded any thoughts of a struggle in 2024/25 and at the MEWA Arena the words 'relegation battle’ are no longer being whispered around the corridors, as they’ve instead been replaced with ‘European football’.

Explaining it best, the coach himself said: "We lost three important players in the summer and have a new team. We are currently getting better and better. Nobody knows where this will lead.”

As things stand, heading into the winter break, it’s leading to Europa League football. Mainz are in fifth, two points behind RB Leipzig who cap off the Champions League spots.

Watch: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-3 Mainz - highlights

Mainz’s previous best finish was also fifth, under Thomas Tuchel in 2010/11, meaning he could not just eclipse one world-class Champions League-winning coach, but another too - Jürgen Klopp.

And before you think we might be getting ahead of ourselves, just look at how things are going right now. In the 05ers' past two Bundesliga games, they’ve taken on first and third, beating Bayern Munich 2-1 and Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1. Four games earlier they beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1, and currently only Bayer Leverkusen are higher than them in the form table.

If that isn’t impressive enough, their two most recent upsets were completed without captain and top scorer Jonathan Burkardt who lasted just 15 minutes before limping off against Bayern with a hamstring injury.

Watch: Mainz 2-1 Bayern Munich - highlights

Losing a man Henriksen calls “our symbol of culture and winning” had many pencilling zero points from those two matches, but as Henriksen explained, they now have a squad that’s capable of making up for areas of concern.

Even Kaishu Sano who arrived in the summer from Kashima Antlers has caught the winning bug, despite Henriksen revealing he doesn’t speak a word of either German or English.

Sano has started all 15 of Mainz’s Bundesliga games and barely put a foot wrong despite the language barrier, something that can be attributed to the head coach, who explains that his philosophy is perhaps more Klopp than Tuchel.

"I only have one job: to give the boys positive energy and free their minds,” he said. “They mustn't think too much - and then they know exactly what to do on the pitch."

Watch: Mainz's relegation rollercoaster

With Matchday 14 and 15 leaving fans on cloud nine over Christmas and the new year, another big result upon their return on January 14 could take things to a whole new level when they visit champions Leverkusen.

That would keep most teams and coaches up at night, but not Mainz, as Henriksen summed it up: “I think the most important thing in football is that you have the courage to have the ball. If you're there, if you're calm and courageous, then anything is possible.”