“I go home. Kiss my wife. Kiss my child and I think I won’t sleep so much at night. Not because of the victory but because my child will keep me up.”

Danny Da Costa told me how he’d celebrate after Mainz 2-1 Bayern.

So: More on Mainz! One of the stories of the season. @ESPNFC

Background: at halfway this season, Mainz were screwed. Screwed to the same extent that Schalke were. They had 7 points.

No team in Bundesliga history has ever survived before with 7 points from their first 17 games.

The table after yesterday - closing in on a great escape.

In January, Mainz overhauled everything.

New chairman: Christian Heidel (formerly Mainz sporting director, once hired a guy called Jürgen Klopp etc. Then had a bad time at Schalke etc.)
New sporting director: Martin Schmidt (ex-Mainz coach)
New coach: Bo Svensson (ex-player)

Here’s the table for the 2nd half of the season. If Mainz win their game in hand against Hertha, only Bayern will have collected more points than them. And only two points more!

Bo Svensson told me yesterday that he’d asked the boys in the dressing room how they’ve done this.

Svensson to us on @ESPNFC: “It’s crazy. I’m not able to explain everything. [How] is a very good question but I see the guys every day. I see how they train. I see how they want to get better. I see how they’ve grown together.” https://twitter.com/archiert1/status/1386260610204241923

Danny Da Costa said to us on @ESPNFC: “We always know what the guy next to us wants to do.”

Little proof of that: when Bayern had the ball at one point, could hear Mainz’s Alexander Hack shouting to Moussa Niakhate: “Right shoulder! Right shoulder!”

Da Costa (here in parent club Frankfurt colours) has had “a crazy week”. First child born on Wednesday, as he was preparing for the team’s game in Bremen.

“Just out of nowhere I receive the message that it’s (the birth) already started. Yeah, I have to hurry up.” 1/2

Da Costa: “I didn’t miss anything. Then the next days I didn’t sleep so much. I was quite happy. I came here yesterday, a little bit tired. Then you play v Munich + I say OK. Just put in everything you got as long as you can. At the end, you win? It’s just crazy.” @ESPNFC

In classy moves news, Bayern’s Hansi Flick made a point of coming over to congratulate Danny Da Costa too after the game.

“He said it’s more important than football. He’s right. I can’t imagine anything else that has the same importance for me like my child.” 1/2

Da Costa on Flick: “Of course he said congratulations for the victory. Even when you lose the game, he is still a good guy. I know him for a long time now. It was just a few sentences but they mean a lot to me.”

Hansi Flick, to all intents and purposes, a good bloke. 2/2

So how do you celebrate a win against Bayern?

Coach Bo Svensson: “I’m going to drink a couple of beers. First, I’m going to hang out with my coaching staff. Some point I’m going to get home and my three boys will be ecstatic. Hopefully, waiting for me with another beer.”

Danny Da Costa: “I go home. Kiss my wife. Kiss my child + I think I won’t sleep so much at night. Not because of the victory but because my child will keep me up.”

Will he watch the highlights with his kid?
“Yeah. I will tell my child that we always win v Munich.” @ESPNFC

Finally, these were the scenes as the Mainz players came out to get on the bus yesterday. Security had to tell them not to go to the fans. Very difficult with all the emotion!

**The End**

Epilogue: one (cheeky) Mainz fan was shouting to Martin Schmidt when he came out: “Hey, Martin! Don’t worry - Heiko Herrlich is going to get sacked at Augsburg. You did a great job!”