Armindo Sieb has had such a hard time of things at Mainz 05. Sent on a two year loan from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2024, the rise of Jonathan Burkardt and inconsistency kept the young striker rooted to the bench for long periods of the 2024/25 season. After Burkardt moved to Eintracht Frankfurt for the 2025/26 season, there was hope that Sieb had matured and would be able to somewhat replace Mainz’s star forward. That has not happened, however, as again Sieb has remained rooted to the bench for most
of the season. Mainz’s exploits in the Conference League this season have, however, opened up more of a need to rotate. Former Mainz boss Bo Henriksson did not really acknowledge that need and kept playing his most trusted players on Thursdays, but new head coach Urs Fischer has been more open to rotation since he arrived.
Sieb again started on the bench in the return leg of Mainz’s Round of 16 Conference League clash against Sigma. But he came on to the pitch in minute 74 and delivered, scoring the crucial goal to make it 2-0 and secure victory, as well as progression to the quarterfinals, for Mainz.
“Armindo showed in his minutes on the pitch exactly what I want from every player: That he works hard, that he tries everything and that he is capable of scoring goals,” Fischer enthused about the unlikely hero in post-match remarks captured @iMiaSanMia_GER.
Of course, Sieb was duly left on the bench for 90 minutes in Mainz’s next match. So perhaps those words were nothing more than a nice sentiment.
Sieb played 15 minutes last weekend In Mainz 05’s 2-1 win over Hoffenheim.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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