Ludwig Augustinsson knows what it feels like to beat the favourites. In June, Werder’s new left-back helped the Swedish national team to a 2-1 victory over France. “In football, you’ve always got a chance of winning. There’s always a possibility in every match you play, irrespective of how much better the opponent is,” Augustinsson said in his chat with WERDER.DE ahead of the clash with Bayern. If anyone doesn’t seriously believe we can win on Saturday, they’ve got a “loser mentality”.
The Swede has never liked that attitude. “I don’t like thinking like that. We’ve got to have the belief, the self-confidence that we can get a result against them at home,” the 23-year-old said and he radiates optimism: “I feel like everyone in the team has that belief and we are all looking forward to the game”. Augustinsson doesn’t need a long lecture to know how good the record champions and the reigning title holders are. “Lots of Bayern’s players are amongst the best in the world. Bayern are probably in the top three teams in the world. Of course it’s going to be a hard game”. Needless to say, Lewandowski, Ribery and co. means they have two or three outlets through which they can win. Perhaps they’ll only need one of them.
Despite this, the left-back doesn’t feel in awe of them. Instead he is focused. Augustinsson cites four ways in which the Green-Whites can beat Bayern. “We can’t make any simple mistakes. We have to be compact in defence. We’ve got to support each other. We’ve got to win more tackles than them,” he lists determinedly. By doing this, he is sure that his side will get at least one chance to score. “You get very few chances in a game, very few. In Hoffenheim, I had one, Kainzi had one. Against Bayern, we have to take those opportunities. We’ve got to be on hand to take them,” the Swede explains.
The new signing can bank on a Weser-Stadion packed to the rafters for his home debut. “It’s definitely an advantage, playing at home,” Augustinsson said. For many years his old club Copenhagen only managed to win at home in the Champions League, he was also on the pitch for their first away victory in the competition against Cub Brugge. “That demonstrated to me how important home games are. To have the fans behind you means a lot, it is a big advantage, one which we have to use”. It gives everyone that extra percent of motivation. “We’ve got to make the opponents feel like we have a twelfth man”.
