FC Augsburg are facing a groundbreaking phase of the season – and will have to do without their best goal scorer for the time being. Florian Niederlechner underwent surgery for a hernia at the beginning of the week. How long will the attacker be out?
For weeks, Niederlechner had been struggling with problems in his adductor and abdominal muscles. The 30-year-old was only able to play in pain and had to repeatedly miss training. It remained unclear where the persistent problems came from. In the 1-2 defeat against Dortmund last Sunday, the striker, who has scored two of Augsburg’s three goals this season, was only used as a wild card in the closing stages due to the ailments.
A break from international duty gives Niederlechner some time
After the match at BVB, Niederlechner has now been diagnosed with a hernia. The FCA professional then underwent surgery and will miss a few weeks for his club. The operation “went well”, FCA announced. The exact downtime will now depend on the course of healing. The international break at least buys Niederlechner some time, but the attacker will probably miss the next two games against Bielefeld (17 October) and Mainz (22 October).
Thus, FCA will have to do without its best goal scorer in a groundbreaking phase of the season. After a poor start with only five points from seven games, Augsburg are under pressure at home against Bielefeld. “Everyone sees that the pressure is basically there,” manager Stefan Reuter said most recently after two away defeats in a row.
Vargas still on sick leave
In Dortmund, FCA had to cope with a number of absences. Among them was that of Ruben Vargas, who was ill at short notice. The Swiss continues to be on sick leave and was unable to join the national team until Wednesday. It remains to be seen whether he will make the squad after his recovery. Switzerland will face Northern Ireland on Saturday and Lithuania next Tuesday.
