With Porto behind them, the lads from Cannstatt immediately turned their focus after the final whistle of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 defeat back to the Bundesliga, hoping to draw on their experiences and learnings from Europe to bolster their league campaign. Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s side have a tough task ahead of them on Sunday 22 March 2026, when they head to Augsburg, currently in tenth spot (kick-off: 19.30 CET). The teams were involved in a thriller earlier in the season, with the white and reds coming out on top by the odd goal in five and looking for another three points this time around.
Hoeneß: “Willingness and intensity”
“We came home from Porto disappointed by the defeat and the fact that we were out of the competition, but at the same time, we know that if we play Augsburg on Sunday with the same kind of solidarity, willingness and intensity as we showed there, we’ll be capable of putting in a good performance,” the head coach said.
A decent showing this weekend would enable VfB to keep two impressive streaks alive. They are unbeaten against Augsburg in nine matches, with eight wins and one draw – the club’s best current run of form against any Bundesliga opposition. Furthermore, the last time that VfB failed to score away from home was in the 1-0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of March 2025 – since then, they have found the net 17 times in a row on their Bundesliga travels.
Two-point difference in the second half
Not that they will be taking FCA lightly by any means. With Manuel Baum now in charge, Sunday’s hosts have the fifth-best record in the second half of the season with 16 points from nine matches, with VfB just ahead of them in that respect in third, on 18 points.
