Baum: “We need to be brave in defence and attack”
FCA travel to Leipzig
First Team
05.11.2026, 14:30
FC Augsburg travel to Leipzig on matchday 9 for their final Bundesliga fixture before the season’s second international break. Ahead of the trip, head coach Manuel Baum has called on his players to be disciplined, play with courage and believe in themselves.
“We need to be brave both in defence and in attack,” said Baum ahead of the away fixture. The FCA head coach is well aware of Leipzig’s individual quality and strength as a team. He highlighted their strength in one-on-one situations, particularly out wide, as well as their ability to break quickly after winning possession. “They can go from defence to attack at incredible speed, and that’s not easy to deal with.” The key, he explained, will be to “nullify Leipzig’s strengths as much as possible without losing sight of what we’re good at ourselves.”
Leipzig currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga table and were also in Champions League action during the week, suffering a narrow 3-2 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday evening. However, Baum does not expect their busy schedule to make Augsburg’s task any easier. “Leipzig have a big squad with plenty of quality, and they can replace almost any player without weakening the team.”
With that in mind, the FCA coach wants his side to be “solid and dependable at the back” while also “believing that we can win the game”. He also stressed the importance of consistency: “The important thing is that we keep working hard and keep performing at the same level. If we can do that consistently, the results will start coming again.”
Three centre-backs unavailable
Augsburg will be without striker Steve Mounié and three centre-backs for the trip to Leipzig. Juma Bah (suspension), Calvin Brackelmann (head injury) and Noahkai Banks (knee ligament injury) all remain unavailable. The rest of the squad is fit and available for selection.
Dahmen named on Germany’s standby list
Germany coach Jürgen Klopp announced his squad for the upcoming international break on Thursday, with Finn Dahmen placed on standby. The Germany U21 squad is not due to be announced until Friday. With Noahkai Banks still sidelined through injury, four other Augsburg players could be in contention for a call-up: Hennes Behrens, Arijon Ibrahimović, Mert Kömür and Anton Kade.
