Head coach Kasper Hjulmand made three changes from the team that started Tuesday’s 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal as Malik Tillman, Loic Bade and Patrik Schick came in for Alejandro Grimaldo, Jarell Quansah and Christian Kofane.
The Werkself attempted to make a fast start in Bavaria as Schick was denied from the edge of the box inside two minutes and Edmond Tapsoba’s follow-up went just wide. But it was the hosts who forged ahead when Keven Schlotterbeck’s long ball picked out Giannoulis up the left, who found the back of the net despite Ernest Poku’s best recovering efforts. The Dutchman tried to make amends but was denied by Finn Dahmen, before a Robert Andrich delivery evaded Schick and also Ibrahim Maza.
Augsburg made their next attack count as well when Giannoulis’s cross found Kade in the middle to head home with barely 30 minutes played. Bayer 04 continued to control proceedings but had to watch out for any potential breakaways. With half-time looming, Poku struck the side netting and Andrich saw a header come back off the post.
Kofane and Quansah were introduced for Martin Terrier and Bade for the second period. Schick and Poku both had shots that failed to find a breakthrough. Nathan Tella and Eliesse Ben Seghir also came on, with the latter striking the crossbar from the edge of the area.
The frame of the goal came to Augsburg’s rescue again when a Poku cross was knocked by Dahmen onto the knee of Tella, who could only turn the ball against the post, with Tillman and Schick both having follow-up efforts blocked. The latter put a shot into the side netting as Hjulmand’s men eventually ran out of time to find a way back into the game.
Bayer 04 are next in action on Wednesday when they host Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League (21:00 CET). The following Saturday brings the home derby against Köln (18:30) before the final game of 2025 away at RB Leipzig on Saturday, 20 December (18:30).
Match stats:
Augsburg: Dahmen - Banks, Matsima, Schlotterbeck - Fellhauer, Massengo, Jakic, Giannoulis (Pedersen 57') - Kade (Essende 89'), Claude-Maurice (Rexhbecaj 69'), Rieder (Kömür 57')
Bayer 04: Flekken - Andrich, Badé (Quansah 46'), Tapsoba - Hofmann (Ben Seghir 61'), Maza (Tella 61'), Garcia, Poku - Terrier (Kofane 46'), Schick, Tillman (Echeverri 81')
Goals: 1-0 Giannoulis (6'), 2-0 Kade (28')
Yellow cards: Banks, Kade, Jakic - Tapsoba, Tella, Quansah
Referee: Sven Jablonski
Attendance: 30,000 at the WWK Arena
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