FC Augsburg

FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen was forced to make a change to his starting line-up due to Ruben Vargas’ adductor injury, meaning Dion Beljo was handed his place. There was then another alteration at short notice after Kevin Mbabu pulled up in the warm-up. Robert Gumny moved up from the bench as a result.

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “The best thing about the first half was that it was still 0-0 at the end of it. We can’t allow ourselves to play like that and give Darmstadt so much possession. We didn’t get stuck into the challenges and weren’t in the game at all. The way their goals were scored was unacceptable; we were far too passive. It wasn’t until we were behind that we started to throw everything forward, which isn’t enough at the end of the day.”

Ermedin Demirović will be in action in European qualifying with Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Playing at a European Championship is a lifelong dream of mine,” said the FCA captain. On Friday, 13th October, the 25-year-old will take on Liechtenstein, before hosting Portugal in Zenica on Monday, 16th October. 

“We took the time we needed after the first seven games and the defeat at home to Darmstadt to look at our current sporting situation and the development of our team. Following open conversations with Enrico Maaßen, we believe that we needed to change our head coach. Despite all their commitment and hard work, Enno and the team haven’t managed to buck the trend and be successful on the pitch,” stated sporting director Marinko Jurendic.

…the decision-making process: “We took the time in order to analyse the situation after the first seven matchdays of the season, with the knowledge that we only narrowly avoided relegation last term. We included all the relevant stakeholders in this process, which naturally also included head coach Enrico Maaßen. Our discussions were open, honest and transparent. In the end, we arrived at the decision that the team wasn’t developing as we hoped and that we needed to make a change.” 

The reason for this is an outbreak of illness in the Franconian side’s camp.

The qualifying games for EURO 2024 in Germany are taking centre stage. Ermedin Demirović will be looking to take part, with his Bosnia and Herzegovina side still in with a chance. After the 2-0 win in Liechtenstein on Friday, they sit four points behind Slovakia with three matches still to play. Demirović provided an assist with a cross for Miroslav Stevanovic to score the second goal against Liechtenstein. On Monday (20:45 CEST), they face a crunch meeting with Portugal.

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Phillip Tietz: “I was really pleased to get my first start. The atmosphere was really amazing. But at the end of the day, it’s not about me as a player, it’s about winning. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do that today. We knew what we would have to deal with and that Bochum would play lots of long balls. We also went into the lead twice but the equalisers both came too quickly. This being said, we shouldn’t just focus on the negatives; it’s positive that we scored goals at home again and played with a good mentality. We have to build on this now.”