They are familiar with the Romans in Augsburg, and they have even incorporated a reminiscence of the history of its origins as a military camp and later Roman provincial town of Augusta Vindelicum into a jersey at FCA this season. Iconic motifs from history decorate the wine-red jersey with the golden characters, which also record the club’s founding in 1907 with the Roman numerals MCMVII. However, Roman mythology was not taken into account. The designers can hardly be blamed for this, after all, they couldn’t have foreseen that the footballers were so serious about complying with FC Augusta Vindelicum. In any case, there is no other way to explain the fact that in the first half of the season they also based themselves on the symbolism of the Roman god Janus.
However, they are now annoyed by their two faces. Their very decent home record with 14 points from eight games is offset by two away points from six business trips this season. Only Bochum performed worse from a distance, but even VfL scored almost twice as many goals as FCA. Coach Jess Thorup’s team scored just four goals away from home, the fewest in the Bundesliga. This makes Augsburg’s desire all the greater to finally achieve their first away win in their last game of the year on Saturday against Holstein Kiel. It has already been agreed with the hosts that Augsburg can wear their Roman jersey.
They have presented themselves as Janus-faced as strong at home and weak away for long enough for their taste. The last time they brought home a three-pointer from a league trip was nine months ago, with a 3-1 win in Wolfsburg. Since then, there have only been two away wins in the DFB Cup, against regional league team Viktoria Berlin (4:1) and in Karlsruhe. For the second division team, this only came about very narrowly because Ruben Vargas saved the team with his goal in extra time to make it 2-2 in the penalty shootout, which they won 5-4.
“We want to end the year successfully. Successful means with three points,” says sports director Jurendic
This is probably why Marinko Jurendic formulates a clear mandate for the game with the newly promoted team from Kiel. “We want to end the year successfully. Successful means with three points,” says the sports director. He is once again calling for more offensive spirit after Thorup had become increasingly cautious over the course of the season and there wasn’t much left of his original approach of the “offensive mindset”. Jurendic also missed “the move to the goal” in the recent 0-2 defeat against champions Leverkusen. Even against such a top team, he said they had to make more progress.
These words also give you an idea of how much the half-year conclusion at FC Augsburg will depend on the game and results in Kiel, especially since KSV has so far shown itself to be hardly competitive. After only five points from 14 games, Kiel, as the penultimate team, has to deal quite concretely with direct relegation. Conversely, Augsburg could have a very solid interim result with a win and then 19 points. There would no longer be any serious danger from the direct relegation places after less than half the season. The situation would be somewhat different in the event of a defeat. In this case, they would not only be dissatisfied with their earnings in Augsburg. Above all, they would have to look downwards more.
The players know the importance of the last business trip. In order not to spoil the festive season and the short vacation until January 2nd, a draw would be the minimum. A success for the Kiel team is “extremely important,” says captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, not only “to keep them at a distance,” but above all “to go into the break with a good feeling.” The central defender cannot help because of his yellow card suspension. Maximilian Bauer is likely to be called upon instead, as are Chrislain Matsima and Keven Schlotterbeck. The latter is also aware of how much the interim balance depends on the last game. Schlotterbeck puts it positively: “The first away win would be a nice Christmas present.”
Most recently they managed a 2-2 draw in Frankfurt, “the form curve went up,” says Marius Wolf. This should continue in Kiel. They “absolutely want to win” and “improve their away record” in order to “finish the year well,” says the right-back. “It’s definitely a very important game.” One can also think about the half-year balance at the end of 2024 . Or as it should be called at FC Augusta Vindelicum: anno MMXXIV.
#Janusfaced
