Football Season Guide

Augsburg enjoyed a historic season last time around, securing their first ever qualification to Europe by finishing fifth in the league table. It was a remarkable achievement for a team that had kicked off the campaign with an aim of surviving in the league for another season. It has been an excellent year and a half for Augsburg and coach Markus Weinzierl with the club going from strength to strength over the last couple of seasons. Despite their excellent form, Weinzierl reiterated that survival was the main aim over the course of last season but the Augsburg coach will now have to aim a bit higher and look to establish his side in the top half of the table. Unlike last season, Weinzierl has managed to hold on to all of his stars so far this summer, though speculation persists on Abdul Baba's move to Chelsea. With Marcel de Jong also having left the club at the end of last season, Augsburg have already made a move for a replacement should Abdul Baba complete his expected move to England with Karlsruher defender Philipp Max arriving at the club. There have been a couple of other additions as well to the squad with Piotr Trochowski completing a free transfer from Sevilla and the midfielder will be replacing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who returned back to Bayern Munchen at the end of his loan spell. Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Dominik Kohr has also been added to the squad while Yannik Ottl has been signed from Unterhaching to provide backup for Marwin Hitz and Alex Manninger in the goal. While a top half finish looks a realistic prospect for Augsburg, much will depend on how they will cope with the added burden of playing in the Europa League this season. Augsburg will also need a couple more additions though, especially a striker who can score goals with Tim Matavz and Sascha Molders managing to score just four goals between them while Raul Bobadilla was increasingly deployed on the right side of the midfield in the second half of the season.