When closed, the team turned a lap of honor, which was not limited to the fan curve, but extended through the entire Augsburg arena. After that, some players happily moved on to the TV interviews with their offspring in their arms. The strikers Alfred Finnbogason and Florian Niederlechner actually stood in line to express their joy over the 4: 1 (1: 1) against VfB Stuttgart in front of the camera.
There were pictures and scenes that hadn’t been seen at the FCA for a long time. And yet a lot looked familiar late on Sunday afternoon, almost as if the director had simply rewound into those times when proud Augsburg family fathers in shorts regularly did laps of honor through the local arena. But now they looked back with relief at FCA after the tenth game day on their only second victory of this Bundesliga season, through which they at least reconnected to the lower midfield of the table and at the same time pulled VfB into the relegation battle. The Augsburgers remain on relegation place 16, but now with the good feeling that they have found themselves again.
“That’s a benchmark, we want it that way every weekend,” said Niederlechner at Dazn. “You have to perform as FC Augsburg in the same way, then we will be successful.” What was meant was the return to the old identity, to the body-hugging and aggressive style with which they had established themselves in the Bundesliga during the first term of office of coach Markus Weinzierl between 2012 and 2016 and even moved into the Europa League in 2015.
Against VfB, the Augsburg attack moves that are reminiscent of the fast, straightforward style of the past
At the FCA, they are very far from such heights. Not to mention the fact that the agenda will take them to VfL Wolfsburg next Saturday before FC Bayern visit them after the international break. But at least the Augsburgers now seem to have rediscovered the activity with the ball and in the duels that is necessary to survive in the relegation battle.
Already in the cup defeat on penalties in Bochum last Wednesday, they had rallied after the 2-0 deficit and almost brought about the turnaround in 120 minutes. This time they actually managed to turn the early 0: 1 through Chris Führich (7th minute) into a liberating victory. The two central defenders Reece Oxford (30th) and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (53rd) had initially taken on scoring goals and turned the game with their headers after corners from Arne Maier.
Later the combinations worked better and better. Several attacks could be marveled at, reminiscent of the Augsburgers from Weinzierl’s first term in office, of the fast, straightforward style with great determination. And when Niederlechner (72nd) and Finnbogason (81st) even met out of the game, the blockade of the offensive, which had previously had so few goals, seemed to have been resolved. “We seemed liberated in the second half,” said Weinzierl and was pleased with the new strength of his team.
“The last 18 months have been the most difficult of my career”: Alfred Finnbogason gives FC Augsburg stability again – and scores against VfB Stuttgart for the first time since February 2020.
(Photo: Eduard Martin / Jan Huebner / imago)
Finnbogason had contributed significantly to the sense of achievement after returning from what felt like his 47th injury break. For the first time this season, the 32-year-old Icelander had been there from the start and had enriched the team with his understanding of the game. As the game lasted, he appeared more and more influential, staged his colleagues or concluded himself. “He gets the game and knows how it works, both offensively and defensively,” praised Weinzierl. “He is incredibly intelligent, puts his teammates in position and knows when to trigger. And he is extremely dangerous for goals,” said managing director Stefan Reuter.
Finnbogason had crowned his performance with his first goal since February 2020. “The last 18 months have been the most difficult of my career,” he said and confessed that he was completely exhausted after his 165 minutes in Bochum and against Stuttgart. Finnbogason joked that he had to “take a bath for two days.”
At VfB they now have significantly more players on sick leave than points
Letting the injury-prone attacker play through against VfB was one of several at least courageous decisions. During the week Weinzierl had already taken the risk with a very sharp address to his players. “It can go in both directions: that they lose heart or that they show such a reaction,” admitted the coach. In the game he also left Gouweleeuw on the field, even though he was standing in front of a traffic light card. Weinzierl’s reasoning: “He has promised that he will a) keep his mouth shut and b) no longer commit a foul.”
The Augsburgers were well aware that some things had turned out favorably for them. This also included the break in the game of the initially clearly superior Stuttgart team after the injuries of Führich and Marc Oliver Kempf. At VfB they now have significantly more players on sick leave than points. And it did not calm down before the game against Bielefeld on Saturday that Daniel Didavi and Waldemar Anton complained about a lack of attitude in Augsburg. “We lead 1-0 and dominate Augsburg. If we then continue, the opponent is dead. And we stop playing football,” said Didavi. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo confirmed this finding and even missed the basic work on the defensive.
It seems as if VfB has to find itself again first. According to Matarazzo, nothing has changed in terms of the season’s goal. “We have been in a relegation battle since matchday one,” he said. It was easy to think about it: Now they have to accept it too.