Manuel Baum: “We want to bring the season to a nice conclusion”

The 2017/18 Bundesliga season is coming to an end and FC Augsburg will play their final home game this Saturday, 5th May at 15:30 CEST against Champions League-hopefuls Schalke 04. Manuel Baum will hoping to give fans a positive end to what has been a positive season. FCA will have to do without Raphael Framberger and Kilian Jakob for the final games of the current season. Marcel Heller saw red during the game in Berlin (28th April) and so he too will be missing for coach Manuel Baum's selection. “Marcel is suspended for three games and will therefore not feature for the rest of the season,” said Baum. Michael Gregoritsch’s inclusion is also in question, “Gregerl was subbed out of our last game and was not able to complete every exercise this week, indeed he had to miss parts of team training. He has been suffering from slight adductor problems. We will have to wait and see for the final training session,” continued Baum. With the fans at their backs, FCA will be looking to win their final home game of the season inside a sold-out WWK ARENA. “We want to thank the fans for their great support and hopefully offer up a passionate game and in the end, a win! We need to do better than we did in Berlin,” said Baum. A tough opponent however will be facing them in the WWK ARENA, “Schalke won’t play any differently to how they have done in the previous matches. Their side is very flexible and as a neutral you can see that throughout the season they have developed remarkably well,” analysed Baum. “Nevertheless we will try and beat them with our strong mentality.” During this season FCA has often shown their strength away from home, however the balance on home turf is less impressive. “In Berlin, I stood between the posts but I am always happy to be a part of the team and I enjoy being able to spur the team on. Of course you can always do more to help the team when you’re actually out there on the pitch. With a win against Schalke we can improve our record at home, even though by all accounts we have had a good season,” said keeper Andreas Luthe. Baum added, “Our goal now is to bring the season to a nice conclusion and regardless of what position we’re in – we will give it our all.”

Marwin Hitz to leave FC Augsburg

“Marwin shared with us today that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season. He will be playing his farewell match this Saturday against Schalke 04,” explained Manuel Baum during the press conference. “It is a shame because he has been a great servant to the club but I know that we are spoilt for choice in terms of keepers,” said Baum. Hitz has played a total of 140 Bundesliga matches for FCA and took part in the clubs Europa League campaign in the 2015/16 season.