FC Augsburg Haberleri

The 25-year-old, who moved to Augsburg from FC Twente in the Netherlands ahead of the 2018/19 campaign, celebrated his 50th Bundesliga appearance in an FCA shirt this season. The right-footer, who has already played in several positions this term, has scored six goals and provided seven assists in 59 games.

“In the extended winter break we were able to work on important tactical aspects and to increase the depth of our squad. This gives me optimism for the 19 games that still lie ahead of us,” said FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen, looking ahead positively to the Bundesliga restart in the New Year. For their first game, FCA will travel to face Borussia Dortmund. The Black-Yellows currently lie in sixth place: “BVB have an excellent team and always have the potential to be high up the table come the end of the season. We have to work together, show willpower and also be prepared to suffer at times. If we do this, then we will get chances.”

In Dion Beljo and Arne Engels, head coach Maaßen handed FCA debuts to two new arrivals. Fellow new singings David Čolina, Kelvin Yeboah and Irvin Cardona were named on the bench, while Niklas Dorsch was named in the matchday squad for the first time this season as he returned from a long injury break.

Kelvin Yeboah: “It was a great game. We did a lot right, but we also made mistakes. It’s tough to be standing here without any points despite having scored three goals in Dortmund. Making my debut for FCA in a game like that is a special experience. We can take a lot of positives from the game, but we also know that we have to keep working hard.”

“We have an exciting challenge ahead of us, but we’ve shown not only against Dortmund that we can do well against the top sides,” said Maaßen ahead of the game. The 38-year-old sees Gladbach, who lost 3-2 to Leverkusen last time out, as a “very good side with a lot of good individual players and the ability to interchange positions.” The plan is clear for Maaßen and his team. “We want to keep the points in Augsburg.”

Enrico Maaßen made one change to the team that lost 4-3 at Dortmund on Sunday. Mergim Berisha replaced the injured Ruben Vargas up front to partner new signing Dion Beljo. Ermedin Demirović started on the left wing.

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “The first half was even, but we were by far the better team after the break. We finally got what we deserved. This win is really important as it will give us more belief and confidence. The new signings have brought in some fresh energy and impetus, and that’s really helping us.”

The head coach discussed the first 17 games in Friday’s presser: “It’s a lot of fun working with the team here. We have shown good performances, especially against big teams, but we’ve had to deal with suspensions and bad luck with injuries,” explained Maaßen. FCA managed to finish their first half of the season on a positive note with a 1-0 home win over Borussia Mönchengladbach on Wednesday evening and the boss believes his side fully deserved the three points: “It was simply a nice feeling that we were rewarded for our performance. We did lots of things right. However, we can’t celebrate for too long because we have to go again. We’ll be taking the momentum from the game with us and we’re looking to go one better.”

FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen named the same XI who beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 in midweek. It was their first time playing at the Europa-Park Stadion after the home side made the move from the old Dreisamstadion at the beginning of last season.

Ermedin Demirović: “It’s a painful defeat. We played well as a team over the 90 minutes. We asked our opponents a lot of tough questions and more than held our own, but we were just lacking that little bit of luck that you need. It was a good performance that we can build on.”