FC Augsburg begin the 2026-27 Bundesliga season with Schalke at home, Eintracht Frankfurt away and Bayer Leverkusen at home. That is a tough first three games for a side trying to back up last season’s ninth-place finish under Manuel Baum.

Baum took Augsburg from 14th and only three points above the relegation zone to a top-half finish. The question now is less about the lift itself and more about whether it can survive the kind of opening schedule that usually exposes soft spots early.

Baum's second-half revival

Augsburg finished 2025/26 with 43 points and a goal difference of -16. Those are decent numbers for a team that started so low, but they also show why a repeat of the same run will need more than momentum alone.

Only Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart took more points in the second half of last term than Augsburg. That late surge was real enough to move them out of trouble and into ninth, and Baum will want the team to carry that level straight into August.

Pre-season did not give a neat answer. Augsburg beat Schwaz 15-0, then lost 4-0 to Leeds United. The range is wide, which is fine in July and August, but the league fixtures are the only ones that will tell us much.

The first three fixtures

Schalke at home should be manageable on paper, but Frankfurt away and Leverkusen at home are a much sterner stretch. Bayer Leverkusen sit sixth in the projected standings, which makes them the toughest of the three openers.

That run will also put the forward line under pressure to deliver. Michael Gregoritsch returned on loan in January and scored six goals with three assists in 17 league appearances, while Anton Kade added six goals and one assist in 28 league outings last term.

Baum has already praised Kade’s fit and the club’s recruitment work, which gives Augsburg at least one attacking piece he clearly trusts. The wider test is whether the group around him can keep the standards high when the fixtures get awkward.

If Augsburg come through Schalke, Frankfurt and Leverkusen with a decent return, last season’s recovery will look less like a good spell and more like the level Baum has set for this side.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →