Bayern: Does Rexhbecaj start right away at FC Augsburg?

Elvis Rexhbecaj has only been in Augsburg for a few days.

Bayern: Does Rexhbecaj start right away at FC Augsburg?

Elvis Rexhbecaj has only been in Augsburg for a few days. The new signing from Wolfsburg could make his debut in the DFB Cup. It will also be a premiere for the new FCA coach.

Augsburg (dpa / lby) - Elvis Rexhbecaj could make a turbo start at FC Augsburg. The Bundesliga club only completed the transfer of the midfielder from VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday. And on Sunday (3:31 p.m.) in the first round of the DFB Cup at the Lower Saxony regional league team Blau-Weiss Lohne, the 24-year-old could start from the start.

You still have to wait for the impressions from the training, "how fresh" he is, remarked coach Enrico Maassen at the press conference on Friday. "If he does well there, he's definitely an option for the starting XI."

Rexhbecaj is an alternative for Niklas Dorsch, who will be out for several more weeks with a broken metatarsal. The German-Kosovar has played 103 times in the Bundesliga, in addition to VfL also on loan at 1. FC Köln and VfL Bochum. Rexhbecaj completed the preparation in Wolfsburg, which is why he is fit.

He was "very happy to be here in Augsburg for the long term," said the so-called box-to-box player, who works the field from his own to the opponent's penalty area. His contract in Augsburg is valid until the summer of 2026.

Offensive player Ruben Vargas and defender Reece Oxford have not yet trained with the Augsburg team due to injuries and will continue to be absent. Vargas is "on schedule," said Maassen, also with a view to the start of the Bundesliga on August 6 against SC Freiburg, while at Oxford it was "up and down."

The new coach, who moved to Augsburg from Borussia Dortmund II, will not experiment in the goalkeeper position. "Rafa will be in goal, he'll stay one," said Maassen about goalkeeper Rafael Gikiewicz, who has been a regular keeper since signing in summer 2020.

Maassen expects his team to take their underclass opponents seriously. After all, Lohne played friendly games against teams like PSV Eindhoven, FC Groningen and FC Schalke 04. "I will demand it from A, but the team from B is still so serious that they will do it that way from the start," said Maassen, Markus Weinzierl's successor, about his players' attitudes. "They are burning to start the competitive game."

Last season, the Augsburgers averted an embarrassment in the first round of the DFB Cup against the then Oberliga side Greifswalder FC (4: 2). In the second round, they were eliminated on penalties by VfL Bochum. "We have to be very focused, very alert," warned Maaßen before his competitive debut. "This is the opponent's game of the year."