Nobody thinks of Mainz as a football minnow anymore, especially as the surprise leader of the Bundesliga.
When Mainz tirelessly raced past Cologne 2-0 last weekend, it remained the only perfect side in the league with five wins from five games and a maximum 15 points.
But Mainz's biggest test of the new season comes on Saturday when it travels to defending champion Bayern Munich.
"They will take us seriously," said Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel.
Mainz has been a revelation this season. It leads the league for the first time and is on a club record 10-game unbeaten streak in the league dating to last season. The players are on such a high, they can't wait to take on Bayern.
"It will be an interesting game, a nice Octoberfest day. People can look forward to it. I wish it was tomorrow already," said Mainz midfielder Lewis Holtby, who scored both goals against Cologne.
"We have a troop that wants success and is awake in training. And we have fans behind us that push us forward."
Those fans will be outnumbered on Saturday by Bayern's, who believe order was restored last weekend when their team beat Hoffenheim 2-1 in the last minute. The result ended a 333-minute scoreless streak and three games without a goal.
"We've shown we're capable of good football, but we needed to turn that into goals and points. And that's what we did (against Hoffenheim)," Bayern captain Mark van Bommel said.
"But we did not save our season just yet."
Forward Thomas Mueller added: "We're right back in it now, although obviously we need to follow up with a win on Saturday."
Bayern lies eighth in the standings, seven points behind Mainz.
"Now everything is good," declared Bayern coach Louis van Gaal.
Not quite. Star playmaker Franck Ribery will miss at least four weeks with torn ankle ligaments to join fellow winger Arjen Robben on the sidelines.
"Obviously Franck is a very important player for us. But the most difficult aspect is how he'll cope with the situation," said manager Christian Nerlinger. "We all wanted him to carry on the way he started this season, without any more injuries. He's been outstanding. The latest injury is obviously a setback, but it's a minor setback. And I'm sure he'll recover quickly from it."
Without Ribery and Robben, Van Gaal may pull Mueller back behind the attack with Ivica Olic, while Hamit Altintop could replace Mueller up front.
Like Bayern, last season's runner-up Schalke used a late goal to beat Freiburg 2-1 and secure its first three points of the season.
After four straight losses to start the season, Schalke coach Felix Magath made five changes to his lineup, and introduced a new system featuring offensive wingers on both sides of a 4-4-2 formation.
And in an effort to give his team more stability and certainty, Magath started defensive midfielders Jermaine Jones and Joel Matip and dropped back playmaker Ivan Rakitic, letting new acquisition Jose Jurado control midfield.
"It was time to change something," Magath said. "There was still some uncertainty, but you cannot get rid of that so easily after four straight losses.
"I hope we can get our first home win after getting our first road victory. It's not so fluid with us since we haven't been together very long. But I hope the fans support us because we are on the right road."
The game against Freiburg showed that last-minute signings Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who scored the game-winner in the 87th minute, and Jurado are finally justifying their million euro (dollar) price tags.
Schalke face struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach at home. With the season so young, two more victories would lift Schalke into the upper half of the table.
Another Champions League team looking to shake off a cold start is Werder Bremen, which hosts northern German rival Hamburg on Saturday.
Bremen has just four points in 14th place after another lackluster loss, which resulted in team management and players holding an 80-minute meeting on Wednesday.
"We are not defending ourselves. Nobody is trying to pick up the mistakes of the others. We are missing the confidence," said Bremen captain Torsten Frings.
A return from injury of top striker Claudio Pizarro and Germany center back Per Mertesacker would be a big help.
In other action on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund travels to St. Pauli; struggling Stuttgart hosts Bayer Leverkusen; and Eintracht Frankfurt takes on Nuremberg.
On Friday, Cologne hosts Hoffenheim, while Wolfsburg welcomes Freiburg on Sunday and Hannover travels to Kaiserslautern.
