Thorup's Augsburg are flying up the table with a middle finger to Bundesliga orthodoxy

The Bavarian minnows have been the third best team in the Bundesliga in 2025 thanks to some remarkably dull, defensive football. Long may it continue.

Augsburg vs Wolfsburg was a dreadful game of football. So bad, in fact, that at half time I was overcome with such guilt for wasting the last 45 minutes of my life sitting inside on a beautiful spring day that I instead opted to abandon the Bundesliga clash entirely and instead went for a hill walk with my dog. The German top-flight has many wonders, but rarely can they be found at the Schwabenstadion. Especially when Wolfsburg come to town. And as I stood atop Ben Gullipen with the Scottish Highlands before me, I let out a deep sigh of contentment, without a single ounce of regret—once I’d finally caught my breath.

That may sound particularly harsh on the Fuggerstädter but that’s only because they deserve it. A solitary goal from Phillip Tietz in the 53rd minute of the match was one of just four shots on target over the course of the entire match and happened to be Augsburg’s twelfth goal in their last eleven games. Such a return would naturally lead many to believe that the Bavarian outfit would be fighting for their lives near the bottom of the table, but Saturday’s win instead put Augsburg level with Wolfsburg on 38 points for the season. To the surprise of just about everyone else in the Bundesliga, Augsburg have lost just one game since the turn of the year and now sit just seven points off a possible top four finish.

This, of course, has been no accident. In that same period of time, the club have conceded just three goals and while they certainly do have some impressive attacking players, the club’s late surge up the league table has unquestionably been built on strong defensive foundations laid by Jess Thorup. And while scoring goals certainly tends to win football games, you can also go a long time without losing them if you haven’t conceded any goals in 614 minutes of league football.