Mainz vs Augsburg preview - Weinzierl's experiment backfires

An international break is usually a good time for players who have been carrying knocks to recover full fitness and for coaches to take a look at those players who, in the absence of international stars, do not usually get much of a chance.

With that in mind, Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl arranged a friendly with second division side Aalen last weekend, but the plan backfired.

His team were beaten, and embarrassingly so. After a 7-1 defeat, Weinzierl learnt only one thing: that he cannot rely on his second string.

"It was a very, very poor game from us and something like this really should not be happening," Weinzierl said.

"Augsburg are only going to be good enough to survive in the Bundesliga if we play as a team, otherwise we don't have a chance even against second division sides.

"We just aren't able to replace the many players who are missing (on international duty) with players of a similar quality."

Weinzierl will be pleased to have his first-choice players back for the trip to unbeaten Mainz on Saturday, even though the defeat will have left him with plenty more questions than answers.

Mainz coach Kasper Hjulmand is not reading anything into that defeat, though, recognising that his side's unbeaten record so far this season is going to be put to a very stern test.

"Augsburg play well as a team and they are very tough to face," he said on his club's website.

"Sometimes, they press you really far up the field and sometimes they sit deeper, but they do both phases all together.

"They can also play with more possession and they have constructive ideas going forward."

So too do Mainz, who boast the league's top-scorer Shinji Okazaki among their ranks, as well as an unbeaten record, even after having faced the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach this season.

Avoiding defeat this Saturday would set a new club record of eight games unbeaten in the Bundesliga.

"All that is important to me is that we get as many points as possible as quickly as we can," added Hjulmand.