Club

The players who were away on international duty in June had already completed the medical examinations and the performance diagnostics at the weekend. On Monday, they were back on the pitch with their team-mates for the first time in pre-season. As they have done in recent weeks, players from the U23s and U19s continued to form part of the training squad so that BVB coach Edin Terzic had a large group as his disposal. The warm-up was followed by coordination and passing drills, before the session concluded with a game scenario involving four mini goals. (cr)

After the fortnight-long international break, FC Augsburg faced VfL Wolfsburg. FCA lead for long periods in the club’s 400th Bundesliga match and led 2-0 at half time, thanks to an own goal and Berisha’s ninth goal of the season. However, Augsburg could not hold onto their lead and Wolfsburg managed to find an equaliser in stoppage time.

Thankfully, Germany turned it around on Belgium in the second to pull within striking distance before ultimately sinking by a score of 2-3. Still, they made it exciting to the very end, and one wonders what might have been had they started hot.

“Lose Yourself” by Eminem is pumping loudly from the speaker. There are just five minutes before kick-off. Daniel Weitzell, a mountain of a man and veteran at SPG Dilsberg I / Bammental II, looks around at his team in the stuffy away dressing room. Sebastian Rudy straightens his shin guards. He and his new team are now fighting against relegation from Kreisklasse A Heidelberg. Coach Weitzell turns down Eminem and gets louder himself: “Stand up, men! We are going out there now and it will only go one way from the beginning.” He delivers a passionate speech to the players, his voice cracking at times as he does so. “We’re going to win here today. Have fun!” Cheers certain of victory ring out from the dressing room. Outside, Guns N’ Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle”, is playing.

Rostock are currently sat at the bottom of the league having only picked up one point from their twelve games played so far and, with seven points separating them from safety, they are already courting relegation. That single point came on on Matchday 7, when they drew 2-2 with SFC Stern. It was the high point of an otherwise hard season, whose nadir came in a 14-0 loss to top of the table Viktoria Berlin in front of their home crowd. They have the worst defence in the league with 59 goals conceded, an average of five goals per game.

Nico Schlotterbeck was one of the first to be put to the test by the athletics coaches. New signing Ramy Bensebaini also started life as a Black & Yellow and acquainted himself with his team-mates and the staff.

SV Werder Bremen would like to wish all the Green-Whites around the world a peaceful, relaxing and healthy Christmas.

Another year is coming to an end: 365 days of both highs and lows, but above all a host of memorable moments for FC Augsburg. It’s time once more to reflect on the past twelve months. In part three of FCA’s review of the year, we look back on March.

Following a comfortable win over Peru, Germany suffered a 2-3 defeat on home soil against Belgium....

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