Koln – Mainz 05

Koln faces Mainz 05 at home at the RheinEnergieStadion in a fixture from the 26th round of the Bundesliga. These two sides return on the pitch after two months break because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s going to be interesting to see how they will perform after such a long pause.

We can say that for Koln this situation didn’t come in the best possible moment, because the Billy Goats were really inspired since the arrival of the manager Markus Gisdol. Gisdol managed to entirely change the way Koln performs on the pitch, leading the club to Top 10 in the Bundesliga. It seems that the Billy Goats are not in a danger of relegation anymore, which is the best news for them, of course.

Before the COVID-19 break Koln suffered a defeat during their visit to Borussia M’gladbach, so now they are eager to return on the winning ways. Just like any other team in Germany right now, Koln didn’t have enough time to prepare at one hundred percent, so it’d be curious to see what they will show on Sunday.

The same could be said about Mainz 05 as well. For them the big difference is their position in the league: Mainz are currently 15th in the standings with 26 points and being dangerously close to the relegation zone. For them every point they can win until the end of the season could be decisive.

Before the break Mainz 05 showed a bit of improvement, losing just one of their last five matches in the league. If they can keep a similar level now, this would be good for them.

In conclusion we can say that on paper it’s not hard to pick a favourite in this game – this must be Koln. But in reality we don’t know much about the fitness of these two teams. Only time will show how they prepared during the last two months.