Heidenheim hex scuppers Union in last-gasp drama to leave Mainz looking down | Andy Brassell

It was, as the clock chimed metaphorical midnight in Berlin, just another Bundesliga day for Heidenheim, without help, hope or points as they trailed Union going into the 90th minute, heading towards another weekend at the foot of the table and, no doubt, for the umpteenth time so far this season, veteran coach Frank Schmidt warning that at current pace, relegation was less a fear and more an inevitability.

Then it all changed. A burst down the right from Omar Haktab Traoré and a cross to the front post was met by fellow substitute Stefan Schimmer, and a wobbling Union had stumbled. The away side sensed the moment and a corner from Arijon Ibrahimovic, swung in just after the announced four minutes of stoppage time in moments added by Schimmer’s goal and its aftermath, was headed in by another sub, Jan Schöppner, to spark pandemonium. Referee Patrick Ittrich almost immediately blew for full-time and finally, more than two months after their hitherto solitary Bundesliga win of the season, Schmidt and company were taking three points home.

It was an unpleasant bit of déjà vu for Union, having conceded a slightly more prestigious last-gasp heartbreaker to Harry Kane in their previous home game but it all came down, in the end, to the Heidenheim hex. Union have not beaten Heidenheim in 11 meetings now, and never at all in top-flight action. If ever it was going to happen, perhaps it had to be now.

And what a weekend on which to do it. With another pair of late, late goals in Munich, with added-time strikes from Bayern’s Luis Díaz and Nicolas Jackson snaffling an improbable point away from St Pauli and condemning them to a ninth straight league defeat after a best-ever start (it seems extraordinary that both those things could have happened before December, but there you go), Heidenheim were out of the bottom two automatic relegation positions, underlining CEO Holger Sanwald’s words that “these three points are worth their weight in gold” with so many spluttering teams at the bottom.

That was emphasised 27 hours later, when there were no such twists as now-bottom Mainz showed not the smallest likelihood of changing the new order in being submerged at Freiburg, on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline that felt less like a defeat and more like an avalanche.

The only thing that could be described as a turnaround there was in the words of Niko Bungert, Mainz’s sporting director who, for the first time, didn’t back coach Bo Henriksen unequivocally. “We will discuss [Henriksen’s position] calmly,” he told DAZN after the game. “It is clear to us, of course, that after such a game and given our current league position, the situation is terrible and we will be examining every aspect to figure how to proceed and turn things around.”

Mainz slumped to a 4-0 defeat against Freiburg. Photograph: Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images

Henriksen’s spell in charge of the 05ers has been a whirlwind. He took over a doomed-looking team in February 2024, as their third head coach of the season. Less than a month later they were hammered 8-1 at Bayern, leaving them nine points adrift of 15th-placed Bochum and no-play-off-required total safety. Nine unbeaten games later and their season had been saved, finishing 13th.

It was a sensational springboard and life under the Danish coach continued apace, with Mainz going into the final weeks of last season with the possibility of winning a barely believable first-ever Champions League qualification. In the end they finished sixth, still a remarkable tale and opening the way for a Conference League campaign, which started with three wins out of three, including a famous victory over Fiorentina at the Mewa Arena (even if the Italians, like themselves, were going through the contrast of a positive start in Europe versus serious domestic struggles).

Sunday night’s humiliation in the Black Forest – which could have been way, way worse, with Freiburg having nearly 75% possession and winning the shot count 23-1 – was the cap on a tough week, starting with Monday’s restless AGM and continuing through Thursday’s first European defeat of the season at Universitatea Craiova, after which the team was booed and whistled by the 1,200 fans who had followed them to Romania.

What happens next is tough to predict. Mainz have the quality to escape this, even post-Jonathan Burkhardt as Nadiem Amiri leads the way – but it feels less and less like Henriksen will be part of the solution. Heidenheim will stick with Schmidt and can, at least, cling to the hope that the points target for safety is likely to be a very low one this season.

Talking points

The Saturday night Topspiel between Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund didn’t disappoint in terms of intrigue, even if the 2024 champions weren’t quite able to top off a perfect week after their shock win at Manchester City. Christian Kofane’s late goal for Leverkusen fell short of rescuing a point from a very creditable performance, with BVB already leading 2-0 after Aarón Anselmino and Karim Adeyemi struck. Perhaps as noteworthy was Niko Kovac’s continued forthright team management, with top scorer Serhou Guirassy ignoring his coach’s attempt to shake his hand after being substituted just after the hour. Kovac was proved more than right, with Guirassy’s replacement Fábio Silva delivering a perfect pass for Adeyemi’s eventual winner four minutes after entering the game and everyone involved quickly moving on. “After the game,” said Kovac, “[myself and Guirassy] talked things through on the pitch. Or rather, I explained it to him.”

Karim Adeyemi of Dortmund celebrates their second goal against Leverkusen. Photograph: Lukas Schulze/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection/Getty Images

So with fourth beating (and leapfrogging) third, Bayern’s late goals further feathered their leaders’ nest, especially with Leipzig dropping points in a goalless draw at improving Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday. Ole Werner’s side might have left Borussia-Park with even less, with a potential Franck Honorat winner ruled out for the most marginal of offsides; even after VAR intervention it was impossible to tell from the TV pictures, much to the annoyance of Gladbach’s newly-made-permanent coach Eugen Polanski. “Unfortunately, we develop football in such a way that we want to see more goals,” complained Polanski, “and then we whistle for things like this. I’m also not entirely sure when the exact moment of the ball being released is, whether it’s accurate to the hundredth of a second.”

Bayern’s late show thus put them eight points clear, though greater media focus has been on fan protests – mirrored across other German grounds – with ultras taking aim at Hamburg’s interior senator Andy Grote, who will chair a conference in Bremen this week on measures regarding security at matches, and many ultra groups fear further restrictions on their freedoms. Uli Hoeness also got it in the neck from Bayern’s hardcore on another banner for suggesting he was open to the end of the 50+1 rule, which he doubled down on at the Power Days live event at Munich’s Olympiahalle on Sunday night. “[The ultras] want to control football themselves,” said Hoeness, “and they haven’t even realised that all the clubs where ultras have the say have become second-rate - Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Schalke.”