FC Augsburg

Gouweleeuw is the player with the second-most top-tier games for FCA with 209 (five goals and seven assists), behind only Daniel Baier (274). The Dutchman has featured 14 times this season, 13 of which were in the starting eleven. The 1.88-metre-tall defender has become a regular presence in the back four under head coach Jess Thorup.

“We have to show that we’re also capable of picking up points away from home against a strong opponent,” Thorup explained, hoping to improve on FCA’s current record away from the WWK ARENA. His mantra is to “perform on the road the way we do at home!” While Gladbach’s most recent fixture saw them come out on top in a 3-1 win over VfB Stuttgart and increase their unbeaten streak at BORUSSIA-PARK to eight, FCA fell to defeat against top-of-the-table Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

With the first half of the season complete, there are currently two points and two spots between the sides in the Bundesliga table, with FC Augsburg occupying twelfth position with 18 points on the board. On the back of a strong defensive performance against Leverkusen, Thorup is now looking for his team to make the most of their chances on the ball: “We can’t just sit back for 90 minutes and look to play on the break, we have to work on our own performance in possession.”

The defender said his goodbyes to the team on Wednesday. Tanganga was forced to sit out due to knee problems at the start of the season, and missed a large proportion of the opening matches as a result. Japhet made a matchday squad for the only time in the away game against Köln at the start of November, but he was not brought onto the pitch at any point.

Jess Thorup’s side, which was completely changed from the previous match, had the best possible start in freezing temperatures, going ahead through early goals by Arne Maier (7’) and Tim Breithaupt (16’). With the wind in their sails, FC Augsburg controlled the game for long periods and conceded very few chances. After half time, Mert Kömür extended the lead to 3-0 (63’), before Philipp Maier (68’) reduced the deficit. Alem Japaur, David Deger, Julian Bell and Daniel Hausmann from the FCA U23s were able to gain some minutes in the first team during the final phases.

Okugawa will be reunited with his former head coach Tim Walter, with whom he worked closely during the midfielder’s time at Holstein Kiel. The 27-year-old has already made 49 appearances in the 2. Bundesliga in total throughout his spells with Kiel and Bielefeld, with ten goals and eleven assists to date. Okugawa joined FC Augsburg in July on a free transfer from Arminia Bielefeld (46 Bundesliga appearances, nine goals), but only made two appearances this season off the bench against VfL Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen due to injury.

Aside from Mads Pedersen, who was suspended after picking up five yellow cards, Jess Thorup was able to name his strongest XI. Just like in the 1-0 friendly win over TSG Hoffenheim, FCA’s coach went with a diamond in midfield. Iago, fit again after a thigh problem, started at left-back.

Finn Dahmen: “We played well and deserved a point. Most teams in the Bundesliga end up doing a lot of running against Leverkusen because they are so good on the ball. We did well for 93 minutes, which is why their goal in the 94th minute is so frustrating. We’ll need to take one or two days to come to terms with today’s game, but I think we can still take some positives from it.”

“We’ve got a difficult start to the year ahead of us, but we like a challenge,” FCA head coach Jess Thorup commented on the first match of the new calendar year. Still-unbeaten league leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen visit the WWK ARENA on Saturday. “We want to be the first team to defeat Leverkusen, even though they have a lot of quality. It’ll be important for us to not just defend, but also create our own chances with the ball.”

After a short winter break, but also some intensive preparation, Thorup is pleased with his team: “We’ve used our time in the best way possible and developed further. There’s competition, everyone has the chance to impress and to pick up some minutes.” The Dane has put a line through the painful 3-0 defeat in Stuttgart at the end of last year. “The most important thing is to always look to the future positively.” The atmosphere in the team is also good: “We did a team event in order to grow even closer to each other.”

FCA head coach Jess Thorup sent out a strong starting eleven exactly a week before the resumption of the league season against leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen (13th January, 15:30 CET). His side started the game in energetic fashion and went ahead in the 2nd minute. Fredrik Jensen beat TSG’s goalkeeper Oliver Baumann with a well-placed finish after being played in by Phillip Tietz. In the 27th minute, Tietz struck the crossbar with a fierce left-footed effort, whilst Finn Dahmen also had to make two first-half saves at the other end of the pitch (14’, 41’).

The 19-year-old was instead one of the key players for our U23 side in the Regionalliga Bayern, appearing in 16 of 21 possible matches. Now, Zehnter, who joined Augsburg from the Würzburger Kickers youth set-up in 2019, is making the jump into the 2. Bundesliga, having transferred to SC Paderborn with immediate effect. The two clubs have agreed not to disclose the transfer fee.

“FCA showed me their view of how my individual development could look in order to become a long-term part of FCA’s first team. I’m honoured that FCA see my potential, but with this transfer I wanted to take the chance to develop further as a regular team member for a 2. Bundesliga club,” Aaron Zehnter said, explaining his decision to move.