Expert: Liverpool Faces Threat From Augsburg In Europa League Round Of 32

Liverpool’s reward for navigating the group stage of the UEFA Europa League is a last 32 meeting with FC Augsburg to be played over two legs in February.

Thank you very much, Alexander #Frei! 🙂 #UELDraw #UEL #KeineSau #FCALFC #LFCFCA @LFC pic.twitter.com/BB2VywIt9r

— FC Augsburg (@FCAugsburg) December 14, 2015

The Reds have met the Bavarians just once before — a 1952 exhibition game that pitted the likes of Billy Liddell against a team then known as BC Augsburg.

As a club that played its soccer in the fourth tier as recently as 2002 and had never qualified for Europe prior to this season, Markus Weinzierl’s team might not be a familiar name to many Liverpool supporters. So, to find out more about the side who stand between Jurgen Klopp’s men and European glory, we looked to German football expert Raphael Honigstein for insight.

LFC: What can you tell us about Augsburg this season and generally?
RH: They had a bit of a nightmare start, but they’ve since really picked up good form and started to have some good results. They qualified last minute to make a miraculous escape from the group stages and reach the knockouts of the Europa League. The momentum has really shifted and everybody’s really happy again. Markus Weinzierl, the manager, it’s absolutely amazing what he does because he has the lowest budget in the league — to finish where they did last year (fifth) was a miracle in itself. To be able to sustain that to a certain extent is really testament to how well they’re doing. They’re a really well-run club who have come from relative obscurity and are now in what is only their fifth season in the Bundesliga against the odds.