Frankfurt fights for Europe, Mainz stabilizes, Offenbach and Wiesbaden have mixed results
Eintracht hopes to stabilize, Mainz 05 will probably stay in the 4th division and SVWW is languishing in the middle of the third division – that's how things look for the four other big clubs in the Rhine-Main area before the season finale.
Frankfurt
One win, one loss, and two draws – Eintracht Frankfurt finishes April with a balanced record. Whether that will be enough for the team of eccentric coach Albert Riera to qualify for their minimum goal of the Europa League is certainly questionable. With Stuttgart and Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup final, seventh place would suffice, and possibly even eighth place if their rival Freiburg wins the Europa League and Germany overtakes Spain in the race for an extra Champions League spot.
But in the final sprint, two top teams still await the Hessians: On the 33rd matchday, Eintracht must go to the top team in Dortmund and on the last matchday, cup finalist VfB Stuttgart comes.
Mainz
1. FSV Mainz 05 won't be particularly happy with April. In the Conference League quarter-finals, the team suffered a crushing 0-4 defeat against Racing Strasbourg in the second leg, following a 2-0 first-leg victory – with subsequent riots and a red card for Mainz's Nadiem Amiri after the final whistle. And in the league, after leading 3-0 at halftime against record champions Bayern Munich, they ultimately lost 3-4 at home. This meant Mainz missed the opportunity to secure their Bundesliga status early.
However, with an eight-point lead over the relegation zone and three games remaining, the threat of relegation is now purely mathematical. Overall, Mainz have shown a remarkable improvement in performance since coach Urs Fischer took over in December, climbing from last place to the middle of the league table.
Offenbach
Kickers Offenbach's form had been trending upwards for a while. With seven points from three matches, OFC had finally distanced themselves from the four relegation spots in the Regionalliga Südwest. However, mathematically, the traditional club's survival is still not entirely guaranteed, as the relegation of two Southwest teams from the 3. Liga is still possible, which would result in a fifth Regionalliga team being relegated. And most recently, they suffered another setback with a 1-2 defeat at Eintracht Trier.
To mark OFC's 125th anniversary, a friendly match against VfB Stuttgart will be played on July 29th at the Bieberer Berg stadium, bringing back memories of better times. In 1950, Offenbach faced the Swabians in the final of the German Championship, narrowly losing 1-2.
Wehen Wiesbaden
SV Wehen Wiesbaden finished April without a win. With three losses and two draws, coach Daniel Scherning's team squandered their last chance to get involved in the promotion race and are languishing in mid-table. Particularly bitter was the 1-4 home defeat against relegation candidate TSV Havelse. And even in their home game against SV Waldhof Mannheim, they squandered a 3-0 halftime lead and ultimately had to settle for a 3-3 draw.
Beyond the Lilies – News from Frankfurt, Mainz, Offenbach and Wehen
Stephan Köhnlein is the editor-in-chief of the independent online magazine Lilienblog, which focuses on SV Darmstadt 98. In this section, he takes a look beyond the Lilies each month at other football clubs in the Rhine-Main area.
