FC Augsburg

Finn Dahmen: “I’ve never experienced anything like that before in the Bundesliga. We did an extremely good job, were clinical in front of goal and were enjoying ourselves on the pitch. Darmstadt were unlucky, also because we forced them into making errors in their build-up play. That played right into our hands. All of a sudden, it was 5-0 and we had just one goal for the second half: to keep a clean sheet. Thank God we managed to achieve that too, and overall it was a great performance.” 

Phillip Tietz: “I only have good memories from my time at Darmstadt, so I was feeling emotional even before kick off. I owe the club a lot, which is why it wouldn’t have been right to celebrate after my goals. I’m extremely happy about the three points and our incredible performance, in a statement win for us. It’s good for us to take it week by week – we’ll celebrate this win today and enjoy tomorrow as well, but then we’ll direct our focus to Heidenheim. We want to give our fans reason to celebrate once again.” 

Ermedin Demirović: “It was an extremely good performance from us. We started well into the match, pressed hard and were clinical enough to score many goals in the first half. I’ve been asked a lot about the goalscoring record – I just feel really good at the moment and that makes it possible to achieve something like this. We wanted to prove that Augsburg can play good football and that we’re an attractive club to watch. Augsburg can do better than just finish in 15th.” 

Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “After a strong performance against Freiburg, we really wanted to make it back-to-back wins. We put our opponents under pressure right from the start, played great football and scored some nice goals. Our biggest away win in our Bundesliga history, Demi’s goalscoring record and Finn’s first clean sheet – I’m very happy about all of that. At half time we spoke about wanting to continue to attack and to come out on top in the second half as well. Congratulations to the team on this fully-deserved win.” 

Torsten Lieberknecht (SV Darmstadt 98 head coach): “Everyone saw the course this game took. The first minutes proved that mistakes lead to goals. It’s telling that we had a chance to make it 1-1 but couldn’t capitalise on it. I’m the first to take the blame and take up responsibility, that’s always been my way as a coach. I will take the time to draw the right conclusions from this game – the important thing was that we ended the second half with the right mindset and that we didn’t let ourselves break down even more than we already had.” 

“We need to show that we’re ready to take the next step,” said Thorup. After beating SC Freiburg 2-1 last time out, the coach is aiming for a second successive win, something FCA last managed in October 2023 (5-2 in Heidenheim, 3-2 against Wolfsburg). While Augsburg are currently in 11th place with 26 points, Darmstadt are bottom of the league after winning promotion last season. Torsten Lieberknecht’s side did pick up a deserved point away to in-form Werder Bremen last weekend though (1-1).

FCA will host 1. FC Köln on Sunday, 31st March (15:30 CEST), before travelling to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim the following week on Sunday, 7th April (15:30 CEST). Head coach Jess Thorup’s side have won all four of their Sunday games so far, including the 2-1 victory over SC Freiburg last weekend.

FCA will compete under the floodlights in the following two fixtures, welcoming 1. FC Union Berlin to the WWK Arena on Friday, 12th April (20:30 CEST) and facing Eintracht Frankfurt on the road on Friday, 19th April (20:30 CET).

Following on from the 1-0 defeat in Mainz, Jess Thorup had to do without Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Mads Pedersen (both suspended). Maximilian Bauer filled in at centre-back, whilst Fredrik Jensen returned to Augsburg’s midfield. 

Kevin Mbabu: “We showed an awesome team mentality and always believed in ourselves. We may have been dealt an early blow with their opening goal, but then we showed a good reaction. We can be proud of our performance, and the substitutes did a super job, too. After this weekend’s results, it’s an important victory, and from tomorrow we’ll turn our attention towards our next important fixture in Darmstadt.”

The 27-year-old was shown a red card in the 12th minute of extra time in the 1-0 defeat to 1. FSV Mainz 05 for a foul on Leandro Barreiro.

FCA have accepted the ruling. The Dane will miss the upcoming Bundesliga fixtures against SC Freiburg (Sunday, 25th February, 19:30 CET), SV Darmstadt 98 (Saturday, 2nd March, 15:30 CET) and 1. FC Heidenheim (Saturday, 9th March, 15:30 CET).

After picking up a point at home to RB Leipzig (2-2) last time out, FCA coach Jess Thorup made just one change to his side. Fredrik Jensen, who was suffering from a migraine, was replaced by Arne Engels.

Ermedin Demirović: “We expected a game like this and were prepared for it. Our performance wasn’t good enough. We only had a few chances at the end, and even then I can’t remember us creating a clear-cut chance. We don’t need to discuss whether we could have got more from today’s match. Mainz deserved to win. We need to learn from this and improve.”

FCA head coach Jess Thorup sent out the same 11 players that started the narrow 3-2 defeat against FC Bayern München and the 1-1 draw in Bochum last weekend. Niklas Dorsch was able to return to the squad after recovering from a groin issueFCA started well in front of a sold-out crowd of 28,510 at the WWK ARENA, winning several duels. The first chance of the afternoon fell to the visitors, however, as Finn Dahmen was able to tip Dani Olmo’s header wide of the post with an incredible reaction save (18′).

Kristijan Jakić: “It is a bit of a shame that in the end we only came away with a point because I think that we could also have won here today. Personally, I am really pleased to be here. I have felt really at home since my first day and have been welcomed amazingly by the team. It feels like a little family – not only on the pitch, but also throughout the whole club. I want to help the team to achieve its goals and also obviously make a good impression ahead of the EUROs.”