DFB Cup
Embarrassment for Wagner’s Augsburg team – the second division team wins
Updated 10/28/2025 – 11:42 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
The air is getting thinner for Sandro Wagner in Augsburg. In the DFB Cup, his team embarrassed themselves against a second division team. Gladbach, on the other hand, breathes a sigh of relief.
For FC Augsburg, the second round of the DFB Cup is surprisingly the final destination: the Fuggerstadt team lost 0-1 (0-1) to second division VfL Bochum in front of their home crowd on Tuesday evening. After the 6-0 defeat against RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga at the weekend, this is the next low blow for FCA and coach Sandro Wagner. In the past two months, Augsburg has only managed one win.
Borussia Mönchengladbach is once again in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup. The “Foals” defeated Karlsruher SC 3-1 (1-0) and gained self-confidence for the relegation battle in the Bundesliga. At the same time, RB Leipzig showed no weaknesses in their guest game against third division team Energie Cottbus and won 4:1 (3:0).
Gerrit Holtmann scored for VfL Bochum the goal of the evening in the 39th minute. The pressure on FCA coach Sandro Wagner is growing. On Friday, the ailing Augsburg team will have to improve significantly in the league against Borussia Dortmund in order to avoid falling even further.
Wagner tried to defuse the situation after the debacle against Leipzig. “You imagine it to be more dramatic on the outside than it is on the inside,” he said. “If you win, you’re not the coolest – and if you lose, you’re not the stupidest.” He also likes to act “as a protective shield”.
Wagner brought six new players against Bochum. However, the great uncertainty was clearly visible to the FCA and the error rate was high. VfL had the better chances before the break, even if Marius Wolf and Ismaël Gharbi were unlucky when they hit the crossbar (25th). After the break, Augsburg pushed, but didn’t act very effectively. VfL defended with passion and remained dangerous on the counterattack.
Shūto Machino (3rd) with his first goal for Borussia, Nico Elvedi (51st) and Haris Tabaković (89th) led their team to a home win in front of 48,023 spectators. The KSC missed the start of both halves, but had hope again after Fabian Schleusener’s goal (59th).
KSC, supported by almost 6,000 fans, initially had nothing to counter Gladbach’s power play. The team played snappy and fast before suddenly there wasn’t much going on and Karlsruhe had chances. In the 29th minute the ball was already in the goal, but referee Bastian Dankert had previously blown the whistle because of a handball.