Lee Jae-sung Plays 68 Minutes as Mainz Draw Season Opener Against Paderborn

South Korean national team midfielder Lee Jae-sung started Mainz's opening match of the 2026-2027 Bundesliga season, but the team settled for a draw against the promoted side.

Lee started in the home match of the 2026-2027 Bundesliga Round 1 against Paderborn held at the MEWA Arena in Mainz, Germany, on the 29th (local time), playing until he was substituted for Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer in the 23rd minute of the second half.

Lee, who contributed to a 9-0 landslide victory by recording an assist on the 23rd in the DFB-Pokal first round against fifth-tier side VfB Krieschow—Mainz's first official match of the season—did not register an attacking point on this day.

Mainz, which finished 10th out of 18 teams in the Bundesliga last season, started their season with 1 point after a 0-0 draw with newly promoted Paderborn.

Paderborn is a team that returned to the top flight for the first time in 7 years after finishing third in the 2. Bundesliga regular league for the 2025-2026 season and defeating Wolfsburg in the promotion-relegation playoffs.

Mainz created more chances than Paderborn by recording 12 shots, including 4 on target, compared to Paderborn's 9 total shots with none on target, but failed to find the back of the net.

Union Berlin, featuring Jeong Woo-yeong as a substitute, drew 3-3 in their home match against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Jeong Woo-yeong, who started in the mid-week Pokal match, began on the bench on this day and stepped onto the pitch in the 16th minute of the second half to replace András Schäfer, playing for about 30 minutes.

Union Berlin fell behind after conceding three goals solely to Eintracht Frankfurt's Younes Ebnoutalib, but dramatically split points with a 3-3 draw thanks to consecutive goals by Leopold Querfeld in the 34th minute of the second half and Tim Skarke in stoppage time.

Jens Castorp of Borussia Mönchengladbach missed the Round 1 away match against RB Leipzig due to a shoulder injury.

Castorp injured his shoulder during a preseason match against an amateur team earlier this month and is currently recovering after undergoing surgery.

Mönchengladbach suffered a 0-3 defeat to RB Leipzig.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.