Liverpool loanee Sepp van den Berg looks destined to return to the Premier League giants this summer with a relegation on his CV after Mainz were thumped 8-1 by a Harry Kane-inspired Bayern Munich on Saturday.
It would be a stretch to describe Mainz as something of a Bayern ‘bogey team’.
But after beating the perennial Bundesliga champions 3-1 last April and running them close on a number of other occasions recently, there was at least a shred of cautious optimism in the Mainz camp ahead of this weekend. Especially with Bayern slipping ten points adrift of runaway leaders Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table.
Though while much has been made of Bayern’s struggles under Thomas Tuchel, there was still a 38-point gap between the two sides at kick off. And while Liverpool loanee Sepp van den Berg had earned some praise on the back of a few eye-catching recent displays, keeping Harry Kane quiet over 90 minutes is an altogether different challenge.
Liverpool loanee humiliated by Harry Kane
In the end, Van den Berg and co lasted only 13 minutes, Kane opening the scoring early on as he racked up a fourth Bundesliga hat-trick and Bayern rolled back the years with an 8-1 victory reminiscent of their glory days under Pep Guardiola.
“We defended far too poorly,” sighed a furious Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner, Bayern’s choice of goal music – the ‘Can Can’ no less – doing little to improve his mood (Frankfurter Rundschau).
“No fouls at the right moment. Bayern often had the chance to turn on the counter-attack situations and then (we) let them come at us at with speed. We didn’t record the runs on defence when they played their chip balls behind the backline.
“We weren’t there in the crucial moments.”
Dutchman open to Anfield exit
It would be unfair in the extreme – not to mention a little short-sighted – to blame Van den Berg alone. But with the 22-year-old Dutchman weighing up his options this summer – he is keen to earn himself a move to a club in one of Europe’s major leagues if he has no future at Liverpool – a relegation and an 8-1 defeat will represent a major blot on Van den Berg’s CV.
Mainz are now nine points from safety, accumulating just 16 during a horrific run of two wins in 25 games.
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