Dortmund’s and Bayern Munich’s run to the Champions League semi finals has boosted Germany’s coefficient ranking meaning the Bundesliga will be given an extra place for next season’s revamped Champions League.
Sat 12 points ahead of Frankfurt in sixth and five points behind fourth place RB Leipzig with three matches to go, Edin Terzic’s men will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 4-1 defeat to Leipzig in their last domestic encounter.
Jess Thorup’s Augsburg have struggled for form after the most recent international break in March, having only picked up one win from their last five matches, and a spot in next seasons’ Conference League is now out of their hands.
After floundering in lower mid table mediocrity for close to a decade, a strong end to the season could see the Bavarian outfit qualify for European competition for the first time since 2015.
Team News
Sandwiched between their two biggest European matches in over a decade, die Schwarzgelben could see heavy rotation for this weekends ‘dead rubber’ Bundesliga encounter.
Left back Ramy Bensebaini remains out with a ligament injury, meaning Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen is likely to continue at left-back. The 22-year-old has started all 14 Bundesliga matches he’s featured in since joining on-loan in January.
17-year-old wonderkid Julien Duranville is also out with a muscle injury, in which could’ve been a good opportunity for the youngster to gain valuable Bundesliga experience.
Apart from Bensebaini and Duranville, Terzic’s men enter the most important part of the season with a clean bill of health.
Die Fuggerstatder are without a number of key first team players ahead of their matchup in Dortmund this weekend.
Defensive midfielder Kristijan Jakic is suspended after accumulating too many yellow cards and will likely be replaced by 26-year-old Niklas Dorsch, who has made 18 appearances in the Bundesliga this season.
Jess Thorup has also named 22-year-old former Karlsruher midfielder Tim Breithaupt as a fellow potential replacement for Jakic.
Attacking midfielder Frederik Jensen remains out with a calf injury, only captain Ermedin Demirovic (nine) has provided more assists in the Bundesliga than the Finnish international’s four.
Reece Oxford, Raphael Framberger, Elvis Rexhbecaj and Robert Gummy all remain out with long term problems.
Likely Lineups
Kobel; Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen; Sabitzer, Ozcan; Sancho, Reus, Adayemi; Haller.
Dahmen; Mbabu, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Pedersen; Engels, Dorsch, Maier; Vargas; Demirovic, Tietz.
Key players
Jadon Sancho
This current Dortmund side may not have the big name superstars such as Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham of yesteryear and one of Dortmund’s stand-out performer in their 1-0 Champions League semi-final first leg win over PSG was loanee Jadon Sancho.
The 24-year-old has been a mainstay in the BVB frontline since the then out-of-favour Manchester United star re-joined his former club on loan in January.
Sancho completed 11 successful dribbles against PSG, the most of any player in a Champions League game this season and completed three key passes as the ex-England international looks to re-find his feet after a turbulent few months in Manchester.
The Manchester City academy graduate has started every Champions League knockout game for Terzic’s men and scored a crucial goal in their round of 16 tie against PSV, as well as netting twice in the Bundesliga.
Ermedin Demirovic
Augsburg skipper Demirovic is having the best scoring season of his career, hitting double figures in the Bundesliga for the first time.
An accomplished goal scorer and creator, only four men have scored more goals than the Bosnian’s 15 in the league, while no striker has provided more assists in the Bundesliga than Demirovic’s nine.
The 26-year-old was born in Hamburg but chose to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at international level, making 24 appearances but only scoring once for his country.
With Dortmund’s defence likely to see some rotation ahead of their second leg in Paris, the man nicknamed ‘the boxer’ will fancy his chances of adding to his seven Bundesliga goals in 2024.
Match details
Where is the game being played?
The game is being played at Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.
What time is kick-off?
The match kicks off at 14:30GMT on Saturday April 4th, 2024.
How can I watch?
The game is not being televised live in the United Kingdom. At full-time, highlights will be available on the Bundesliga website and the app.