FC Augsburg made two changes to its starting lineup for the visit of Union Berlin on Saturday, with Anton Kade and Michael Gregoritsch coming in for Robin Fellhauer and Rodrigo Ribeiro at the WWK ARENA. The switch gives Augsburg a refreshed XI for the 7th Bundesliga-Spieltag, and Kade is back from a muscle bundle tear.
That matters because this was not a routine shuffle. Kade had been sidelined and only now returned to the start, while Gregoritsch was also selected from the outset as Manuel Baum adjusted the side from the match in Elversberg. Augsburg’s full lineup was Dahmen, Brackelmann, Massengo, Matsima, Gregoritsch, Behrens, Ibrahimović, Wolf, Kade, Rieder and Bah.
The timing made the announcement relevant before kickoff at 15.30 Uhr, but the list of absentees mattered just as much. Noahkai Banks and Steve Mounié were still unavailable, and Alexis Claude-Maurice was not ready to play despite recently being partially reintegrated into training. That left Augsburg to lean on the players it had, with Fellhauer and Ribeiro dropping to the bench alongside Labrović, Gouweleeuw, Seol, Kömür, Keitel, Schnitzer and Ogundu.
For Augsburg, the immediate answer was simple: the changes were made, the lineup was set, and Kade’s return was the clearest sign of how the club was managing fitness and availability on a matchday that left little room for delay.
