Match Report
Four headed goals in 4-0 rout of Mainz
Personnel matters:
Head coach Niko Kovac made just one change to the team that won 2-1 away at VfL Wolfsburg six days earlier: Ramy Bensebaini replaced Nico Schlotterbeck, who was suspended after picking up a yellow card. Defensive colleagues Emre Can and Filippo Mane were also unavailable due to injury. Julian Brandt wore the captain's armband.
The match:
Mainz pressed extremely high when Dortmund took goal kicks, and crowded the centre when Dortmund had possession, forcing BVB out wide. After Widmer fouled Beier and was shown a yellow card, there was a free kick on the right side of the box, which Ryerson sent high into the six-yard box. Guirassy rose highest and powered home his fourth goal in the last three games (10).
The second goal, which followed quickly, also resulted from a set piece: after a throw-in, Borussia advanced down the left side, and at the edge of the penalty area, Guirassy passed to Ryerson on the right, who again crossed high into the six-yard box with his right foot. This time, Beier was there and headed the ball into the near corner from a tight angle with a touch off the keeper Batz to make it 2-0 (15).
And Mainz? They were certainly dangerous, albeit from positions that looked suspiciously offside: Lee was denied by Kobel (10), then Silas narrowly missed the target (21). An efficient Borussia side converted two shots into two goals, while the visitors failed to convert any of theirs. And when they scored in the 37th minute, Widmer was offside when Lee played the ball forward. Instead, Borussia's fourth corner led to their third goal: Ryerson's cross found an unmarked Guirassy, who used his aerial power to score Dortmund's third header of the game (42').
After the break, BVB brought on young Luca Reggiani for Süle and underlined their clear superiority. Between the 52nd and 58th minutes alone, there were three great chances for Nmecha, Beier and Brandt, which Mainz keeper Batz thwarted with some outstanding saves. The team played the first of five games in 16 days with discipline and continued to show their hunger for goals: in the 84th minute, Bensebaini headed the ball into the net from a Ryerson corner to make it 4-0 for BVB.
Outlook:
Now there are two weeks of intense fixtures ahead. The play-off matches against Atalanta on Tuesday in Dortmund – tickets are available here – and on 25 February in Italy are sandwiched between the Bundesliga blockbuster in Leipzig next Saturday.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 4–0 (3-0) 1. FSV MAINZ 05
Bundesliga, Matchday 22
Saturday, 13 February 2026, 20:30 CET
Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Süle (46, Reggiani), Anton, Bensebaini – Ryerson, Bellingham, Nmecha (74, Sabitzer), Svensson – Brandt (61, Chukwuemeka) – Beier (61, Fabio Silva), Guirassy (74, Adeyemi)
Substitutes: Meyer, Couto, Özcan, Inacio
1. FSV Mainz 05: Batz – Posch, Bell (27, Potulski), Kohr – da Costa, Sano, Widmer (60, Mwene) – Lee (60, Nebel), Amiri – Silas (60, Becker), Tietz (73, Weiper)
Substitutes: Riess, Leitsch, Veratschnig, Böving, Weiper
Goals: 1-0 Guirassy (10, free-kick, Ryerson), 2-0 Beier (15, Ryerson), 3-0 Guirassy (42, corner, Ryerson), 4-0 Kohr (84, own-goal, corner, Ryerson)
Bookings: Süle, Chukwuemeka, Fabio Silva – Widmer, Posch
Referee: Welz (Wiesbaden)
Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out) at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK
Boris Rupert