August: Captain Verhaegh says farewell 

An exciting 2017 lies behind FCA. Twelve months with many highs and a few lows as well as several records set. As the year draws to a close, we take a look back at what’s happened. Today we look back at the events of August.  The pre-season friendlies were positive on the whole, the standout result being the 4-0 win over English Premier League side Southampton. FCA played out a creditable 0-0 draw with PSV Eindhoven in the last friendly fixture before the season got underway.  However, FCA lost a vital player in captain Paul Verhaegh before the first competitive fixture of the season. The Dutchman was in search of a new challenge after seven years with Augsburg and handed in his transfer request to the club. Those responsible at FCA left no obstacles in his way and allowed the Dutchman to move to VfL Wolfsburg. The team lost another key player several days later when Raúl Bobadilla moved to Gladbach.  There were changes for FC Augsburg II as well: coach Christian Wörns stepped down for personal reasons and Alexander Frankenberger took over the team on an interim basis as caretaker manager. Former FCA player Dominik Reinhardt later took over the team.  Finnbogason scores after 35 seconds  Finally, the season got underway again. FC Magdeburg awaited FCA in the DFB-Pokal in a difficult first competitive fixture of the season. Augsburg struggled against the strong third-tier side and were knocked out in the first round after conceding two late goals. The start of the league season also went pear-shaped; Augsburg were not rewarded for their efforts against Hamburger SV, despite putting in a solid performance, and were defeated 1-0.  While some experts were initially already talking of a crisis, the team continued undeterred and finally earned a first point of the season at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach in a 2-2 draw. Alfred Finnbogason scored after just 35 seconds to give the team an early lead and new signing Sergio Córdova salvaged a point for his team with an equaliser in the final minutes to end the game 2-2.