Koch reflects on loss and backs Santos: "Never experienced a match like that in my career." | OneFootball

Despite having the man advantage for 70 minutes - and achieving complete dominance in every statistical category - Eintracht Frankfurt couldn't even manage a respectable scoreline against visiting FSV Mainz 05 in Saturday's 2024 capper. The match statistics remain, quite frankly, absurd.

Frankfurt outshot undermanned Mainz 34 to 9, created no fewer than 18 quality scoring chances, and beat their opponents in crosses (49-3) and corners (17-2) by ridiculous numbers.

The problem on Saturday revolved around the fact that every last individual mistake by the hosting Hessians got punished. A poor pass from Ellyes Skhiri. Two errors from keeper Kaua Santos. A botched clearance from Arthur Theate. So it came to pass that Mainz achieved the upset.

SGE attackers Can Uzun and Omar Marmoush had their chances to turn the game around, yet choked in crucial moments by losing their focus. After the match, Mainz trainer Bo Henriksen admitted it wasn't the "most earned win". Eintracht gaffer Dino Toppmöller labeled the result "plain weird".

Twenty-eight-year-old German veteran defender Robin Koch conceded he had never before known such a match; not in well over 300 games spent playing in four separate German footballing divisions, not to mention three years representing Leeds in the English Premiership.

"One has difficulty grasping what just happened in this game," Koch remarked in his post-match interview. "Today, nothing went right for us. We would have ordinarily scored four or five goals with the chances we had."

"We let in goals out of nowhere," Koch continued. "Today was extreme. I've personally never experienced a match like that in my career. It's really difficult to head into the locker room right now."

Koch was sure to back young keeper Kaua Santos after the 21-year-old's two egregious errors directly led to Mainz goals. The young Brazilian had excelled in starts earlier this season, earning himself a contract extension and even stirring the discussion as to whether he should replace the flailing Trapp as Eintracht's #1.

“We are there for him as a team to build him back up,” Koch emphasized, ”I think he is mentally strong. He's a young player, and something like this is part of his development. Football is made up of mistakes. I don't think it will be a problem for him to get back out there."