Augsburg on top: Manuel Baum‘s men make a flying start to the 2026/27 campaign
One of a few surprise packages from the opening two weeks of the 2026/27 campaign, Manuel Baum’s Augsburg currently sit at the top of the Bundesliga table after confident, clinical displays against Schalke and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Those two wins have seen them score seven goals, with just one going in at the other end, and puts them ahead of Freiburg, Borussia Dortmund and newly-promoted Elversberg at the top of the tree.
Baum's side blends exciting talent with players that have a wealth of experience in Germany’s top-flight, forming a fearless group that are eager to build on their strong finish to the previous campaign that saw them lose just one of their last seven, and finish just four points off a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Rodrigo Ribeiro (21), Anton Kade (22), Fabian Rieder (24) and Arijon Ibrahimović (20) have all opened their goalscoring accounts in the opening couple of games, with Noahkai Banks (19), Chrislain Matsima (24) and Hennes Behrens (21) also catching the eye in Augsburg’s dream start to 2026/27.
Their youthful enthusiasm has been guided by the likes of Michael Gregoritsch (32) and Marius Wolf (31), who have 527 Bundesliga appearances between them, and ‘keeper Finn Dahmen (28) who is on the cusp of joining the division’s 100 club.
After a dominant start against the returning Schalke, where they registered 13 shots on target and and xG value of 3.48 on their way to a commanding 3-0 victory, they faced a tougher test on the road against the Eagles.
They went into the break a goal down and were fortunate to not have conceded more as Frankfurt’s attacking talent flew out of the blocks in front of a home crowd.
A goal down away from home and feeling the heat, Augsburg proved their mettle in the second 45 with two quick goals from Ibrahimović and Robin Fellhauer to provide a quick turn around.
Alexis Claude-Maurice and Fabian Rieder scored later on in the half to see them convert four of their eight shots on target and secure all three points after an incredible second-half display. That made it six points from six to start the campaign, the first time Augsburg have won their first two games of the season since 2020/21.
"It's an incredible feeling," said goalscorer Rieder following their win at Deutsche Bank Park. "We played two really good games, so we deserved it. But at the end, no team has either won or stayed in the league with two wins, so we still have a lot of games to win."
Watch: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-4 Augsburg
Baum, meanwhile, said, "We can thank Finn that we were only 1-0 down at halftime. We were too timid then, and Frankfurt had a few chances. But the team believes in itself, and you could see that after the break. The crucial thing was that we had belief after the break and strong substitutes. That's what characterizes our team."
Both games have displayed Augsburg’s ability to find the back of net and win games with limited possession, proving capable of soaking up pressure before launching well-constructed attacks that more often than not create shooting opportunities, with Baum’s men recording 40 total shots in these first two games.
Their seven goals scored put them at the of the scoring charts alongside Elversberg and ahead of the likes of Bayern Munich, Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart (all on five goals) as well as Bayer Leverkusen (six). Next up for Augsburg are Leverkusen, who will travel to the WWK Arena on the back of a 4-0 win over Union Berlin, a strong response to their opening weekend defeat to Elversberg.
