An emotional 12 months full of highs and lows are drawing to a close. As we enter the last few weeks of the year, FC Augsburg are looking back on the last 365 days. In the eighth part of our series, we take a look at August.

Augsburg welcomed Freiburg to the WWK ARENA for the first game of the 2022/23 season, which ended in a bitter 4-0 defeat. Ermedin Demirović, who made the move from Freiburg to FCA that summer, featured from the start, as did Michael Gregoritsch, who moved in the opposite direction. The Austrian was given a warm welcome ahead of the game.

Augsburg were in action a week later when they took on Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena. Since gaining promotion to the Bundesliga, the Fuggerstädter had failed to win any of their previous 22 matches against Leverkusen but this rotten run finally came to an end at the 23rd attempt.

Fredrik Jensen gave the guests an early lead on his 50th appearance for the club but Leverkusen got back on level terms shortly before the break. Birthday boy André Hahn put Augsburg back into the lead in the 65th minute and his superb left-footed strike was enough to give Maaßen’s side all three points.

Augsburg sign Baumgartlinger and Berisha

Before taking on Mainz on matchday 3, FCA were able to strengthen their midfield with the signing of Julian Baumgartlinger. The Austrian, who had previously played for Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen, was bringing 239 games of Bundesliga experience into the team and signed a contract until 30th June 2023.

Augsburg suffered a late blow in their game against Mainz. Although Ermedin Demirović got the home side back on level terms and Rafał Gikiewicz saved a penalty, Jae-Sung Lee scored in stoppage time to give the Zerofivers a 2-1 win. FCA then fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of TSG Hoffenheim on matchday 4. 

Before the transfer window closed, the Fuggerstädter acquired the services of striker Mërgim Berisha. The 24-year-old arrived on a season-long loan from Turkish club Fenerbahçe, on a deal which included an option to buy. Meanwhile, Ricardo Pepi joined FC Groningen on loan until 30th June 2023, whilst Felix Götze was loaned to third division side Rot-Weiss Essen.

Paul Renz Academy – a milestone for the FCA youth set-up

After 18 months of construction, the four-storey Paul Renz Academy on Donauwörther Straße was officially opened. 150 guests were present at the official opening to get a first-hand impression of the new facilities, which will provide FCA’s youth talent with excellent conditions in which to develop.
    
FC Augsburg’s members played a big part in the naming of the academy. They were first asked to put forward suggestions before it went to a vote. The Paul Renz academy won with 49.47% of the vote, with the name paying tribute to man who led the BC and FC Augsburg youth academies for a number of decades.

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