Ice-cold Augsburgers give Wagner his first victory in Freiburg

Sandro Wagner made a successful Bundesliga coaching debut with his FC Augsburg team. His team delivered a cool performance against Freiburg, earning a somewhat fortunate 3-1 (3-0) victory on Saturday afternoon.

Dimitris Giannoulis (32'), Chrislain Matsima (42'), and Marius Wolf (45'+2') scored within a quarter of an hour to give Augsburg a clear halftime lead, while Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo scored Freiburg's only goal from the penalty spot (58'). Augsburg ultimately proved to be significantly stronger in finishing than SCF and withstood the home team's second-half pressure in their first game of the season.

After the cup victory in Halle, Wagner celebrated his second competitive victory. Freiburg, on the other hand, began the new Bundesliga season with a bitter home defeat.

Freiburg made the first exclamation mark of the match when FCA newcomer Han-Noah Massengo lost the ball to Johan Manzambi in his own penalty area. Lucas Höler, with quick thinking and a stunning skill, chipped the ball home. However, because Freiburg's attacker was offside, VAR correctly intervened and disallowed the goal (17th minute). Yuito Suzuki, the only new signing in Schuster's starting lineup, missed a good chance (22nd minute), and Eren Dinkci also appeared in a good shooting position but missed (25th minute).

The first goal, however, came from the other side. A deflected cross from the right landed on the left side of the box at Giannoulis, whose shot, deflected by Lukas Kübler, found its way into the Freiburg net. Freiburg reacted promptly and had a great chance to equalize after Augsburg lost possession. Lucas Höler was initially denied by Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, and Suzuki's follow-up shot from about ten meters missed the empty net by a wide margin.

Augsburg clearly benefited from the opening goal in attack. Robin Fellhauer narrowly missed scoring the visitors' second goal in the 35th minute, but then, after a corner, the game finally happened: Mert Kömür delivered a sharp shot to the six-yard box, and Matsima rose high and headed it into the far corner.

But that wasn't enough. Freiburg, still in the game, remained active and had another good chance to score through Dinkci (45+2). However, the resulting corner paved the way for Augsburg to make it 3-0. Dinkci made a terrible misplaced pass in the backcourt, and Wolf was off and running, sprinting the length of the field and slotting home the visitors' third goal. Curiously, at halftime, Freiburg's expected goals were at 1.74, while Augsburg's was at 0.89 – Augsburg were extremely ruthless.

A VAR intervention helped the hosts score their first goal in the second half. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw unluckily handled the ball with his upper arm after a chest-toss, and referee Felix Zwayer awarded a penalty after reviewing the footage. Grifo fired a shot into the top right corner at over 100 km/h, giving Freiburg renewed hope.

Grifo (62') with a free kick and Manzambi (66') from distance provided further decent finishes for Freiburg, but Augsburg then managed to stymie SCF's acute attack. While FCA barely managed to create any more forward momentum, Freiburg weren't in the mood to do so at this point. And defensively, Wagner's team remained largely focused.

The final phase was once again spectacular: First, Noah Atubolu in the Freiburg goal prevented a dream goal from Goueweleeuw, who had volleyed in from distance (84'). Then Höler appeared completely unmarked in the back area, but his shot was blocked by Matsima with a strong header (89'). Shortly afterward, Matthias Ginter headed a shot towards the right corner of the goal, but Dahmen made a superb save (90') – it was a despairing moment for SCF.

Freiburg has the chance to secure its first win of the season on Sunday evening (August 31, 2025) under the floodlights of Müngersdorf (7:30 p.m.) against 1. FC Köln. Augsburg hosts reigning champions Bayern Munich on Saturday evening (6:30 p.m.) – a top-of-the-table clash.

• football
• Bundesliga
• SC Freiburg
• FC Augsburg