Mainz vs. Bayern Munich: Winners and Losers from Bundesliga Game
Bayern Munich concluded a mightily impressive 2014 in standard fashion on Friday night when they travelled to the Coface Arena in Mainz and picked up another three points against the mid-table club with a 2-1 win.
Pep Guardiola may have slumped in his chair a few times throughout the match, as his team left it late to conclude their dealings with Kasper Hjulmand's team, but ultimately the Spanish perfectionist will wrap up the year with a smile on this face; Bayern are flying high at the top of the Bundesliga table and nobody can possibly catch them.
The Bavarian club now go into the winter break with their friendlies planned and training all scheduled throughout the time off, with the intention of returning next month with the exact same intensity and quest for excellence.
Here are the winners and losers from Friday's match.
Winner: Bastian Schweinsteiger
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He may only have just returned from injury, yet Bayern's vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger has wasted little time settling back into this side and confirming his role as commander-in-chief in the centre of the park.
The German midfielder was truly exceptional in his central attacking role against Mainz and capped such a performance off with a truly outstanding free-kick in the 24th minute, his curled effort just outside the Mainz box managing to squeeze just past Loris Karius and into the top-right corner.
An outstanding performance from one of Bayern's all-time greats.
Loser: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
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With a number of first-team injuries still ravishing the standard setup of the Bayern midfield, young Danish talent Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg once again featured in the centre of the park for Guardiola's side.
Unfortunately, with the brilliance of Schweinsteiger and other key, senior players in the side, the 19-year-old looked simply overcome by the occasion or just simply off the ball at times. Lacklustre in his passing and often completely out of sync with his teammates, it wasn't a great day at the office for the youngster.
Either way, in a team as jam-packed with talent as Bayern's is, Hojbjerg will be expected to perform much better in future opportunities if he has long-term prospects of playing for this club.
Winner: Arjen Robben
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In many ways it felt only fitting that Arjen Robben would be the man to step up and score the winning goal for Bayern on Friday night. The Dutch international has been exceptional this season and could quite easily be regarded as the Bavarian club's best player so far this season.
According to Transfermarkt, the winger now has six goals in his last six Bundesliga games, making him Guardiola's most in-form player at the moment without question.
Should Bayern go on to claim yet another Bundesliga trophy this season, many fans will look back to remember just who dragged them there from such an early stage in the campaign.
Loser: Mainz
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The season after Thomas Tuchel left the club was always going to be one full of hardship and pain for Mainz, yet the manner in which this league campaign has turned under Kasper Hjulmand is truly quite peculiar.
The Carnival club kicked off their season with a bang, going their first eight games under their new manager without a single defeat and pushing as high as third in the Bundesliga table. Yet things have begun to unravel at the club.
Defeat to Bayern on Friday night means Mainz have now gone nine matches without picking up a solitary win, replacing those three-point thrillers with defeats to sides such as Werder Bremen and Hamburg.
Hjulmand's side now sit 11th, three points off relegation, and could do with a turn in fortune after the winter break.
Winner: Pep Guardiola
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Bayern may have huffed and puffed against a determined Mainz side on Friday night, but their ultimate win and three points gathered before the winter break now puts them on 45 points and, in turn, ahead of any other side in the league's history.
Record breaking seems to be the name of the game under Guardiola at the Bavarian club, and nobody will be as pleased as he to reach such a tally coming off the back of a most strenuous World Cup campaign for much of his senior side.
Bayern now go into the winter break with their heads held up and confidence sky-high. No German club have looked so sure of a league championship ever before.
