Augsburg vs Mainz preview - Ambitious Augsburg eyeing Europe

Posted Friday, March 13, 2015 by PA

With their objective for the season reached, Augsburg can afford to think even bigger when they host Mainz this weekend.

After last weekend's 1-0 win over Wolfsburg, the Bavarians have what their coach Markus Weinzierl believes is a big enough cushion over the relegation zone not to have any survival fears over the final 10 games of the season.

"All the rest now is a bonus," said Weinzierl. "It's a great situation to be in.

"We're very ambitious, but we don't want to be angry if we don't make it [into Europe] either.

"It's hardly likely to happen for the rest of this season that I'll be disappointed because my lads are playing a fantastic season."

Augsburg go into Saturday's game with a five-point advantage over seventh-placed Hoffenheim, although with only one point separating them from the top four, they can even set their sights on the Champions League and not just the Europa League.

To help them on Saturday, Weinzierl may be able to count on on-loan Bayern Munich midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

"I hope so," said the coach. "We'll just have to see these next few days."

Augsburg have impressed many this season, not least Mainz coach Martin Schmidt.

"They deserve to be on course for the Europa League, or even the Champions League," he said.

"They've made great progress under Markus Weinzierl. They always were a good team at pressing their opponents, and now they have cultivated their possession and are dominant at home."

Christian Clemens is Schmidt's biggest doubt, but he could be able to count on Jonas Hofmann.