The leader from Berlin and the twelfth from Mainz separate just six points in the Bundesliga. That may not mean anything, but it is at least an exciting change.
Looking at the Bundesliga table, they don’t know where to look at FC Augsburg. Carefully upstairs? Or would you rather go down as usual?
After the eighth day of play, the Bavarian Swabians are tenth with twelve points. The cushion on relegation place 16 is seven points strong, and just three points are missing from a Champions League rank. The people of Fuggerstadt have earned this with three wins in a row. Among other things, they beat FC Bayern Munich.
Maassen knows how to appreciate it
How Enrico Maaßen rates the table now is not known. He doesn’t have to look down for the time being. “It makes me very proud that we have now clinched our third win in a row”, said the FCA coach. Rightly so. After all, Augsburg had never done that before in the Bundesliga. But he shouldn’t look up either. Because FC Augsburg is still FC Augsburg. “It will continue to give us impetus, but we have to remain down-to-earth and take the euphoria with us.”, Maassen also knows. Which probably means that he is currently quite satisfied with tenth place.
League without midfield
The fact is that the Bundesliga has lost its midfield. Even 1. FSV Mainz 05, in twelfth place with eleven points, can have their eyes on the Champions League – at least theoretically. Only behind there is a “hole” in the table, so that VfL Wolfsburg leads the relegation zone with eight points.
Special playing rhythm in the winter World Cup year
Of course, all this doesn’t mean anything in a league in which somehow everyone has beaten everyone else and the top teams are shaking considerably. FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are still lagging behind the surprise teams from Berlin and Freiburg, Leipzig is only slowly getting going, Leverkusen not at all.
This is probably partly due to the special game rhythm in the winter World Cup year with all its English weeks. Whether the current mixed situation will become a sustainable trend will become apparent after the World Cup.
Pretty exciting
In any case, the fact that things are tight in the table means tension. Which is nice, because in previous years FC Bayern had sometimes been light years ahead of the competition after eight match days.
Time for dreams
Now some fans are dreaming. Hoffenheim could draw level with leaders Union Berlin on Friday with a win against Bremen. Werder, on the other hand, could take fourth place. And when Dortmund and Bayern draw in the top game and FC Augsburg beats VfL Wolfsburg, then they are actually right in the middle of the European Cup turmoil. And at FCA they still don’t know where to look now.