Thorup: “Anything’s possible with our fans behind us”
Gearing up for the start of the year against Leverkusen
FC Augsburg have a difficult task ahead of them in their first Bundesliga game of the year as they host leaders Leverkusen (Saturday, 13th January, 15:30 CET). Despite this, Jess Thorup wants to make life difficult for the still-unbeaten B04 in front of our own fans.
“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.”
Pedersen suspended
Thorup has almost a full squad of players to pick from at the weekend. Only Mads Pedersen, who is suspended anyway, trained individually after his planned operation during the winter break and will have to be replaced. “We’ll have to see how long Iago can play. Robert Gumny did really well in the friendly against Hoffenheim,” explained Thorup.
The home area is once more completely sold out on Saturday. “I’m looking forward to playing in our own stadium again. Anything’s possible with our fans behind us,” said Thorup. All the fans who will be in the stadium for the first game of the year against Leverkusen can look forward to an appearance from former FCA midfielder Julian Baumgartlinger. He retired after 15 years in professional football at the end of last season and will be given a proper farewell before the match.
