“Hallerluja” was written on the t-shirts that Augsburg put on after their 2-0 win against Werder Bremen.

“Hallerluja” was the city's motto in 1973, when its most famous football son, Helmut Haller, returned from Italy and sparked enthusiasm at FCA, at that time in the Regionalliga Süd.

However, the double "ll" now stands for the future.

It can also be read as the number “11”.

The club is now entering the eleventh season in the Bundesliga, that is certain after the success against Bremen.

FCA is saved before its final game at Bayern.

Sports director Stefan Reuter assured that he did not know anything about the production of the jubilee shirts: “They don't involve me.” It was a sign of a certain daring in the marketing department to think about the retirement celebrations.

Because the constellation before the 33rd matchday was that FC Augsburg was deeply involved in the fight against relegation and had also lost the first game under the new coach Markus Weinzierl, 1: 2 at VfB Stuttgart.

Used to failure

The team had got used to defeat. And she started against Bremen with an act of nervousness: striker Ruben Vargas tried to assault in the no man's land of midfield in the 12th minute, he was expelled from the field, although he did not hit the opponent. The Augsburgers were henceforth one player less, until shortly after half-time Bremen's Christian Gross helped them get the same number with his yellow-red card. “That played into our cards,” said Markus Weinzierl. Being able to win was again an option.

The fact that you won had a lot to do with psychology. The team rallied to a "For Ruben" effort when they saw the Swiss "cry bitterly" (Weinzierl) at half-time. The 1-0 (57th) scored with his first goal in 60 games Rani Khedira, who will move to Union Berlin and who, despite the impending departure from the new coach, was appointed to an axis. Daniel Caligiuri put the 2-0 up with a penalty kick. "As a coach you also live from good guys," said Weinzierl, who had put the previous regular player on the bench. "But he accepts this decision, comes in and then takes the penalty."

Markus Weinzierl was the focus of the celebrations.

He had been the coach of FC Augsburg from 2012 to 2016, but then left despite or because of the mutual success and current contract with FC Schalke 04.

There the Lower Bavarian failed, as well as at VfB Stuttgart.

Of the five years since he left, he has been unemployed for three and a half years.

It was said that he communicated too little with the players.

In Augsburg he has shown in the three weeks since he took office that he has learned from his mistakes.

Reuter was particularly impressed "that our trainers personally moved their office on the first day under Markus".

They moved into an adjoining room of the team cabin, "the door was always open, the players could talk to the coaches".

After the leaden time under coach Heiko Herrlich there was also a sense of optimism in the city. Fans had the club put perseverance messages in the stadium, there was hustle and bustle in front of the team's quarantine hotel on Saturday, and for the first time since the beginning of the Corona crisis, the supporters also gathered in front of the stadium. Their cheering could be heard inside. After the game, the team went to the chic roof terrace, which the stadium has had in the VIP area since a renovation, and thanked them for the support. Hallerluja.

“We were in an extremely difficult situation,” says Stefan Reuter, “it's not easy when you have to release a coach. But eleven years of the Bundesliga are an absolute dream. ”Only the years since 2016 could have been more constant, thinks the manager, who hired and fired Dirk Schuster, Manuel Baum, Martin Schmidt and Heiko Herrlich as coach. "If Markus Weinzierl had stayed at that time, we would have a second Christian trick at FC Augsburg."