Bayern make their shortest away trip of the season on Saturday as they visit fellow Bavarians Augsburg. The Fuggerstädter have reinvented themselves somewhat under new coach Sandro Wagner with a flexible approach, brave pressing and quick transitions. But there’s also a potential weakness in that new style of play. fcbayern.com examines our next opponents in more detail.
Pre-season paying off
Augsburg played a whole nine friendly matches during pre-season. They seemingly had little issue against lower-league opposition in TSV Gersthofen (9-0 win), Memmingen (4-1 win) and Austria Lustenau (2-0 win). As part of a double header against Rot-Weiss Essen, Wagner’s men lost 2-1 before getting revenge with a 4-1 victory. Bigger-name opponents came towards the end, with tight encounters against Crystal Palace (3-1 loss, 1-0 win), Pisa (2-2 draw) and Sunderland (1-0 loss).
Their competitive start to the season has been perfect with back-to-back wins. Their 2-0 victory in the DFB Cup first round at fourth-tier Halle was far from a sparkling display, but their opening 3-1 win at Freiburg in the Bundesliga was impressive. “We’re happy after seven weeks of pre-season that we’ve started with three points against a top team that was among the best in the Bundesliga last season,” said Wagner. “It’s great that our plan worked out. Things were really good in the first half.”
Transfers: Core remains, new impetus
One reason for the quick progress is that Wagner can rely on an established core of a squad that has remained mostly unchanged from last season. Things were particularly solid in defence at times last term, and the Fuggerstädter have sought that continuity by completing permanent transfers for centre-backs Chrislain Matsima and Cédric Zesiger after their respective loan spells from Monaco and Wolfsburg. Elias Saad from St. Pauli and Kyliane Dong from Troyes have brought fresh legs in the forward areas, while newest arrival Anton Kade from Basel is a promising 21-year-old right winger.
Wagner also has greater depth in central areas with the additions of Han-Noah Massengo from Burnley and Robin Fellhauser from Elversberg. Left-back Oliver Sorg (17) is one for the future after arriving from Sturm Graz’s second team. The players to leave this summer are Felix Uduokhai (Besiktas), Dion Beljo (Dinamo Zagreb), Irvin Cardona (Saint-Étienne) and Patric Pfeiffer (Darmstadt).
Probable line-up
In front of goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, who’s just received his first senior Germany call-up, Matsima forms a back three alongside captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Keven Schlotterbeck. Marius Wolf and Dimitrious Giannoulis are Wagner’s wing-backs, with Kristijan Jakic and Massengo in central midfield. Wagner has tried different things in forward areas, though. New arrivals Saad and Fellhauer player alongside youth product Mert Kömür against Freiburg, but it was the more attacking duo of Steve Mounié and Phillip Tietz in Halle. Alexis Claude-Maurice was Augsburg’s main attacking outlet last season with nine goals and three assists in 28 Bundesliga games but is currently out with an ankle injury.
Active, intense, flexible
By bringing in Wagner for Jess Thorup in the summer, Augsburg are looking to play a more active, intense style of football. The new coach wants to see a clear structure but also flexibility. They almost want to bypass the midfield, with the creativity coming higher up in the middle from their two No.10s.
The idea is for complex, dynamic football, but without forgetting the simple things and having clarity. The new approach was on clear display against Freiburg as Augsburg sat deep, transitioned quickly and were then clinical in taking their chances – each of their first three shots resulted in a goal. Wagner is trying to create a team that’s energetic, brave and tough to play against.
The desire to press higher is also a new facet of Augsburg’s play. Kömür and the forwards are meant to put the opposition under pressure early, but that has so far shown to leave gaps between the lines – something Wagner is still working on and a weakness that Bayern will have no doubt targeted for Saturday’s meeting.
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