Substitute Jae-Sung Lee scored one and made another in Mainz's win over Fiorentina. - © Imago

bundesliga

Mainz comeback stuns UEFA Conference League rivals Fiorentina

07.11.2025

Substitute Jae-Sung Lee scored deep into added time as Mainz came from a goal down to beat Fiorentina and extend their winning start in this season's UEFA Conference League to three matches.

Mainz 2-1 Fiorentina
Goals: 0-1 Sohm (assist: Piccoli) 16', 1-1 Hollerbach 68' (assist: Lee), 2-1 Lee 90'+5 (assist: Sano)

Buoyed by 1-0 wins over Omonia Nicosia and Zrinjski Mostar, Mainz started brightly only to fall behind against the run of play. Danny Costa's errant pass was picked off and after the ball was worked to the edge of the box, Simon Sohm made no mistake with his finish.

Robin Zentner prevented Roberto Piccoli from adding a second soon after, while Kacper Potulski put in a potentially goal-saving challenge to thwart the Italian on the stroke of half-time.

Piccoli miscued a presentable opening early in the second half, before Mainz hit back through Benedikt Hollerbach, who started and finished a fine team goal less than three minutes after entering the fray as a substitute.

Mainz got away with one as Fiorentina sub Moise Kean headed over with the goal at his mercy. Lady Luck was clearly shining on the home side, who snatched all three points when Lee headed in fellow sub Kaishu Sano's cross in the fifth minute of added time.

The Mainz fans celebrated a European night to remember at the Mewa Arena. - IMAGO/VITALII KLIUIEV

Mainz travel to Romania's Universitatea Craiova in their next European fixture on 27 November.

See Mainz's Conference League fixtures here

Recap the action against Fiorentina below...

2 - 1

(0 - 1)

Mainz

FINAL

Fiorentina

Conference League
League phase, Matchday 3 League phase, Matchday 3 Mewa Arena

Full-time! Mainz 2-1 Fiorentina

Mainz seal a comeback win to extend their perfect start in the Conference League to three matches. The substitutes made all the difference, with Benedikt Hollerbach and Jae-Sung Lee scoring in the second half on a memorable night at the Mewa Arena.

Full-time

90'

+ 6

Yellow card

Marin Pongračić

90'

+ 5

Scenes!

They've only gone and done it! Two of the subs combine as Lee heads in from Sano to put Mainz ahead for the first time!

90'

+ 5

Jae-sung Lee

GOAL!

2:1

89'

Time added on

Five minutes to find a winner...

86'

Final throw

That's now all five allotted subs used up by both head coaches...

85'

Substitution

Nicolo Fagioli

Simon Sohm

84'

Very open

Now Mainz attack with Sano, who gets round Caviglia, but can't beat Pongračić. Will there be a late winner?

82'

Will-i-am

Danish forward William Bøving is on for his fifth Mainz appearance since joining the club from Sturm Graz on 1 September. Midfield talisman Amiri, who was on a booking, makes way.

81'

Substitution

William Bøving

Nadiem Amiri

78'

Gilt-edged opportunity!

Somehow Mainz are still level as the unmarked Kean heads over from close range with only Zentner to beat. The relief among the home fans is palpable!

76'

Momentum

Mainz are having a really good go at this as Sano tries to find Hollerbach with a cross, but Martinelli gets there first.

Holler!

69'

Substitution

Pietro Comuzzo

Pablo Mari

68'

Instant impact!

Hollerbach opens his Mainz account after starting a lovely move that went through Lee and Weiper, before finishing with aplomb from inside the area. The Mewa Arena is bouncing!

68'

Benedict Hollerbach

GOAL!

1:1

67'

Yellow card

Nadiem Amiri

65'

Positive

A striker in place of an attacking midfielder. It would certainly be a great time for Hollerbach to score his first goal for the club...

65'

Substitution

Benedict Hollerbach

Paul Nebel

64'

Half chance

Amiri dinks a clever ball into the penalty area for Widmer, but he doesn't make the desired connection and the chance is gone.

63'

Niggling fouls

A couple more yellow cards - another sign the game is becoming a little stretched.

63'

Yellow card

Pablo Mari

62'

Yellow card

Paul Nebel

60'

Two changes apiece

Like-for-like on both sides. No surprises to see Maloney and Ndour hooked after those bookings so soon after the restart.

60'

Substitution

Jae-sung Lee

Armindo Sieb

60'

Substitution

Moise Kean

Roberto Piccoli

59'

Substitution

Rolando Mandragora

Cher Ndour

59'

Substitution

Kaishu Sano

Lennard Maloney

55'

Chance!

Goalscorer Sohm finds Piccoli in the Mainz area, but the Italian puts his shot narrowly wide from a tight angle. Let-off for Mainz!

50'

Caution

Ndour catches the foot of Kohr, and can have no complaints with the referee's decision.

50'

Yellow card

Cher Ndour

48'

First booking

Maloney's cautioned after being beaten by and pulling back Ndour.

48'

Yellow card

Lennard Maloney

46'

Under way!

Widmer's on at full-back for Mainz, who are quick to attack. Weiper has a go, but his deflected effort is too close to the goalkeeper.

46'

Substitution

Silvan Widmer

Phillipp Mwene

Half-time: Mainz 0-1 Fiorentina

The 05ers have it all to do at home to Fiorentina. Despite starting well enough, they trail and are a tad fortunate not to be further behind at the break.

43'

From downtown

Speculative from Amiri, whose long-range effort takes a deflection and sails behind. It's just not clicking in the final third for Mainz right now...

39'

Potulski to the rescue!

Fiorentina cut through the Mainz defence and send Dodo away up the right-hand side. He crosses for Piccoli, but Potulski makes a brilliant recovery challenge to avert the danger.

36'

Direct passing

Promising build-up ends with Ranieri hooking clear Amiri's probing ball into the danger zone. That's more like it from Henriksen's side!

Forza Mainz!

There's that stunning piece of pre-match choreo we mentioned earlier. Can the Mainz supporters inspire a comeback?

31'

Lucky boy

Ex-Wolfsburg and Dortmund defender Marin Pongračić escapes with just a talking-to after catching Maloney with a stray elbow.

27'

Stat attack

That was the 23rd goal Mainz have conceded in 16 competitive games this season, but first in the Conference League proper.

23'

Zentner to the rescue!

The Mainz stopper does really well to stop Piccoli firing home after purposeful play by Fortini. The 05ers are on the ropes...

17'

Mainz behind!

After that bright start, the 05ers fall behind. Da Costa concedes possession to Caviglia. It goes through Piccoli, who feeds Sohm for a confident finish from the edge of the area!

16'

Simon Sohm

GOAL!

0:1

13'

Teasing run

Mainz come again as Sieb jinks into the penalty area. He tries to find Nebel, but the cross has too much on it and goes out of play for a goal-kick.

Right idea

Nebel runs clear on the right-hand side before crossing for Weiper. It's slightly behind the youngster, though, and the goalkeeper is able to make a routine save.

Mainz in charge

Mainz have made an assured start. They're seeing plenty of the ball as Amiri swings in a cross that's well held by Martinelli.

Purposeful

Mainz go straight on the attack, but there's an offside flag and Fiorentina can breathe again.

Kick-off!

Sea of red and white

The Mainz fans have put on a fabulous Tifo ahead of kick-off. That'll be sure to fire up the home side!

Džeko on the bench

As for the hosts, interim coach Galloppa recalls goalkeeper Martinelli, defender Pablo Mari, midfielder Sohm and forwards Piccoli and Fazzini. Former Wolfsburg striker Džeko is among the players to make way.

Rotation in the Mainz ranks

Henriksen makes four changes to the weekend draw with Bremen. Messrs Potulski, Da Costa, Kawasaki and Weiper are cycled in, with Hanche-Olsen, Sano, Widmer and Hollerbach dropping to the bench.

Home where the heart is

Mainz's compact MEWA Arena - with its 34,034 capacity - will be rocking come kick-off as the home supporters look to lift the 05ers towards what would be a third straight victory in the Conference League league phase.

Bo Henriksen on facing Fiorentina

"We don't know exactly what to expect. Fiorentina is an outstanding team; they've had some very good international matches so far this season. They also have a new coach. We can't predict which players they'll field or what formation they'll use. For us, though, it will be crucial to play our own game."

Daniele Galloppa (Fiorentina interim coach) on facing Mainz and his team

‘I tried to take some of the pressure off them, and we hope to put in a strong performance tomorrow. I want to encourage all the players to enjoy these moments instead of focusing on the pressure – that's the best way to perform freely on the pitch.’

A Conference League safe haven

In contrast to their respective league forms, both Mainz and Fiorentina have won two from two in the Conference League, with the Italian club currently sitting top of the table. In fact, the Italian outfit have already made it to the competition's final twice, but have lost both times. Last season, they made it to the semi-final stage.

Clubs in crisis

After stellar campaigns last season, where both sides finished sixth in their respective leagues, this current campaign has seen a significant fall-off from both Mainz and Fiorentina. Currently, both sides sit near the bottom of their home leagues, with Fiorentina failing to win a single game so far. As a result, the Italian side currently sit bottom of Serie A, leading to Stefano Pioli losing his job at the beginning of the week. Mainz aren't in a much better position, sitting second bottom.

Widmer calls for resolve

Silvan Widmer netted his side's goal in the 1-1 draw with Werder at the weekend and explained the mood in the Mainz camp shortly afterwards, with the 05ers making it an unwanted six games without a win in all competitions. "We’re not in a great place at the moment, but I’m sure we’ll find a way out of it," he said. "[Saturday] was a step in the right direction. There’s no need for any doubt, instead we need to believe in ourselves even more.”

2:03

Making their point

Mainz are without a home win since last February in the Bundesliga but they did start strongly against Werder Bremen at the weekend and earned a welcome draw that halted a worrying domestic losing streak.

The story so far

Mainz are one of six teams with a 100 per cent record in the Conference League, league phase after two games. The 05ers have enjoyed back-to-back 1-0 wins against Cypriot side Omonoia and Zrinjski, from Bosnia. Germany international Nadiem Amiri and Nelson Weiper have provided Bo Henriksen's team with their goals in the league phase to date.

Not a happy hunting ground

Fiorentina failed to win any of their first seven games on German soil (D1 L6) before beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League in 2017.

Mainz's mean defence

Die Nullfünfer have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four European games (not including play-offs). Hertha Berlin (five in 2001/02) and Union Berlin (five in 2022/23) are the only German sides this century to go on longer runs without conceding.

Welcome!

Welcome along and thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of Mainz's Conference League encounter with Fiorentina on Matchday 3 of the league phase, which kicks off at 6.45pm CET on Thursday.