Gouweleeuw: The fans are very important for us”
Uduokhai misses out against Gladbach once again
FC Augsburg will host Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday (15:30 CEST) in the third home game of the season. Whilst captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw looks forward to a sold out stadium, head coach Markus Weinzierl emphasises the need for his team to be more clinical in front of goal.
12,500 fans have secured tickets for Saturday’s game, selling out the WWK ARENA due to the current capacity restrictions. “The fans are very important for us,” emphasised Gouweleeuw. “We’ve played without them for long enough and it wasn’t as much fun. I’m happy that the stadium is sold out and that we’re slowly getting back to normality.”
Head coach Weinzierl is also excited for the strong support from the terraces: “The fans are a key element for us and our game,” he said, highlighting the significance of the fans. “We can only turn our home ground into a fortress when we have our supports back in there. What will be decisive is if the spark the fans bring transfers into the team.”
Uduokhai misses out once again – Strobl back in training
The team took a step forward with the 0-0 draw at 1. FC Union Berlin, emphasised Weinzierl, also looking back to the 0-0 draw with Europa League side Eintracht Frankfurt and the 4-1 defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The 46-year-old also made clear: “We need to get our first win as quickly as possible.”
FCA and the head coach will once again have to deal with the absence of central defender Felix Uduokhai who will miss out as he did against Union with a muscular problem. Carlos Gruezo is available for selection after returning late from the international break, as is Tobias Strobl, who returned to training after an ankle injury.
Weinzierl: “We need to make the most of key moments”
Upcoming opponents Gladbach, who Strobl played four years for, took their first win of the season last time out with a 3-1 victory against Arminia Bielefeld. “Gladbach have a lot of attacking quality,” Gouweleeuw explained. “We can’t afford to give them too much space and we need to defend aggressively. We can get something out of the game if we do that.” Augsburg’s record at home against Gladbach is good: in the last ten meetings in Bavaria, FCA have only lost one, drawing five and winning four.
To keep this streak going, “we will need to make the most of both the key moments and the details,” explained Weinzierl, who reiterated the need for his team to be more clinical in front of goal following the goalless draw in Berlin. “We need to be more precise and purposeful in the opposition’s box – and we need a bit of luck to come our way.”