September 20th, 1:30 PM.
Xuge Stadium, Bielefeld, Germany.
Bundesliga Matchday 5, Mainz challenged Bielefeld in an away game.
Before the season started, this would have been considered a civil war between two relegation-zone teams.
But after four rounds, Mainz sat second in the league table, while Bielefeld was second to last.
They were only one point ahead of the last-place team, Cottbus.
In the first four rounds, Cottbus had one draw and three losses, with zero goals scored and seven conceded.
Bielefeld had two draws and two losses, scoring five goals and conceding nine.
The home team drew their first two matches and lost the next two, falling 2-4 at home to Hamburg and 0-2 away to Bochum, marking a two-game losing streak.
Mainz's start to the season had been nothing short of stunning, but their 1-3 home loss to Bayern in the previous round was still a cause for concern.
More importantly, in their head-to-head record over the past few years, Mainz was at a disadvantage.
