Augsburg - FC Augsburg were eleven points adrift of safety at certain stages of the season, most recently after matchday 22’s 2-1 defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Yet they recovered their ground, timing their recovery to perfection to leap out of the bottom three on the final day of the season.

History repeating

It was an historic effort since no team before them had recovered from a gap greater than ten points.

“It was a dramatic finale, the team was sensational,” said coach Markus Weinzierl. “It’s an incredible relief today. We were written off as dead at Christmas; in a horrible situation, and that makes it all the more amazing that it’s worked out. We’ve completed a minor miracle.

In the first half of the season, Augsburg picked up just nine points - the same as Greuther Fürth - and sat in the penultimate position in the table. Yet a magnificent turnaround in the second half of the campaign saw then collect 24 points and safety, which few deemed possible at the turn of the year, was in the bag.

It was a repeat of the previous season, Augsburg’s first in the top flight. After picking up 15 points between August and December, they then claimed 23 in the new year to secure their Bundesliga status. Lightning can strike in the same place twice after all, much to Augsburg's relief.

End of Season awards

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