September: First win of the season and a special charity match
2024 Year in Review, part 9
First Team
02.01.2025, 09:07
Another year is coming to an end: 12 eventful months of both highs and lows, along with plenty of memorable moments for FC Augsburg. It's time to once more reflect on the past 365 days. In part nine of FCA's Year in Review, we look back on September.
League action: FC Augsburg suffered a 4-0 defeat in Heidenheim on matchday 2 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Despite enjoying the bulk of possession, Augsburg were outplayed by the hosts, who were clinical with their chances.
Their first win of the season then came the following matchday, at home against FC St. Pauli. Marius Wolf, Phillip Tietz and Yusuf Kabadayi got on the scoresheet for Augsburg, as academy product Henri Koudossou made his Bundesliga debut.
FCA then hosted 1. FSV Mainz 05 at the WWK ARENA, falling to a narrow 3-2 defeat after a back-and-forth end to the game. Keven Schlotterbeck and Samuel Essende scored for the hosts.
The team travelled to Leipzig the following matchday, and found themselves trailing 2-0 early on. Despite a brave attempt at mounting a comeback, FCA conceded a third early into the second half as RBL ultimately would go on to win 4-0.
International duty: September also brough the first international break of the season. A total of 12 FCA players were called up to represent their countries. Assistant coach Lars Knudsen also stepped into an interim role as head coach of the Danish national team during this time. Elvis Rexhbecaj also earned his first call-up for Kosovo.
The players that remained in Augsburg took part in a charity match against SSV Ulm 1846. FCA won 4-1 in Dinkelscherben, with all the proceeds from the game being donated to help those affected by the devastating flooding in the area in June.
Transfer news: Nathanaël Mbuku, who had been called up to play for DR Congo for the first time, did not return to Augsburg following the international break. Instead, the attacker agreed to join Dinamo Zagreb for at least a season, with FCA retaining a buy-back option.
Ahead of the home game against St. Pauli, FCA also announced that head coach Jess Thorup had extended his contract with the club until 30th June 2026. The 55-year-old had taken charge of the side in October 2023, with his initial contract set to expire in 2025.
