FC Augsburg’s unbeaten streak came to an end on matchday 28 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Despite taking an early lead through Dimitris Giannoulis, FCA would eventually lose 3-1 to league leaders FC Bayern München.

Head coach Jess Thorup made two changes to the starting XI from last weekend’s 1-1 draw in Hoffenheim, with Kristijan Jakić and Samuel Essende making the cut for the clash against the record champions. January arrival Mergim Berisha was named on the bench for the first time after recovering from a thigh injury.

The sold-out crowd at the WWK ARENA were treated to an intriguing contest from the very first minute on Friday. As to be expected from the side currently atop the table, Bayern tried to ensure the majority of the action took place in the Augsburg half at the start of the game. But FCA also had their say in the opening exchanges, pressing with intensity and frustrating the visitors with their compact defence. As a result, FCB’s attack looked paltry for a long while and failed to make the most of their opportunities. The hosts, on the other hand, aimed to take advantage and penetrate the away side’s danger zone.

Giannoulis hammers home

Around the half-an-hour mark, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw had the chance to do exactly that. The defender chipped a free kick into the box. Dimitris Giannoulis gave Konrad Laimer the slip and brought the ball down, before smashing it into the roof of the net – a good way to open his account for Augsburg and give his side the lead on the night. Munich immediately went on the hunt for a response, though, and found it thanks to Jamal Musiala. The midfielder spun away from his marker in the box after latching onto Leroy Sané’s cross and slotted the ball past Finn Dahmen to level things up again (42’). The scoreline read 1-1 when the two teams headed into the dressing rooms for half time.

The sides emerged unchanged after the break. The hosts looked to draw first blood in the second 45 through Frederik Jensen who managed to get away from Kim Min-Jae but curled his effort over the frame of the goal (47’). At the other end of the pitch, Michael Olise turned into a promising position and let fly. Augsburg were saved by the woodwork as his effort crashed off the bar (54’).

FCA go down to ten men, Kane pounces

After that, things started to go downhill for Augsburg. Cedric Zesiger who had already been warned was booked for a second time after a hard tackle on Harry Kane (59’). Joshua Kimmich swung the resulting free kick towards Michael Olise on the right wing who proceeded to whip his own cross into the box. Kane was lingering at the back post and headed home to turn the tables on the Fuggerstädter (60’).

Bayern started to dominate after scoring their second, pinning FCA in their own box and probing for gaps in the hosts’ defence with patient build-up play. There was hardly any respite for the ten men in red, green and white. Thorup reacted by bringing on some fresh legs, and, in the process, Mergim Berisha made his comeback after a long spell on the sidelines. The striker had scored five goals in his five previous appearances against the record champions. Even though Finn Dahmen prevented Sané from putting the final nail in the coffin with a strong stop in the 87th minute, the Bayern attacker would end up getting on the scoresheet in added time to seal a 3-1 victory for the visitors. Before that, Berisha had had a promising opportunity to get back on level terms following some nice build-up play with Elvis Rexhbecaj.

FCA will be on the road next weekend. They take on VfL Bochum on Saturday, 12th April (15:30 CEST).

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