Ingolstadt fact file
Wednesday, 13. September 2017, 10:00 Uhr
The Boys in Brown kick off a two-match week by hosting FC Ingolstadt 04 on Saturday (kick-off: 1300 CET). We took a closer look at the relegated Bundesliga outfit and collected a few facts and figures for you.
Unwanted windfall
FC Ingolstadt had to cope with the departure of several players after dropping through the Bundesliga trapdoor, but they did earn more than ten million euros in transfer fees. Mathew Leckie switched to Hertha BSC Berlin (€3m), while Markus Suttner (€4.5m) and Pascal Gross (€3m) joined newly promoted Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion. The Schanzer have yet to make up for the loss of these three players. Ingolstadt's record transfer to date came in summer 2016 when Robert Bauer moved to Werder Bremen for €2.5m.
Mediocre haul
With just three points from their first five games, Ingolstadt have failed to meet the expectations so far. The Schanzer have lacked incisiveness, especially in attack, where they have scored just four times despite being the side with the most attempts on goal (80). Centre-forward Dario Lezcano, who with 17 attempts has been one of their most trigger-happy players, contributed the only goal scored by a striker so far.
Combative Lezcano
The aforementioned Lezcano has not been one to shirk a tackle in the first five games. The Paraguayan has already been involved in 195 duels with opponents, which puts him some distance ahead of Sandhausen's Lucas Höler on 160. Lezcano has won 90 (almost 46 per cent) of those duels. He has also drawn 22 fouls. Only Aue's Dimitrij Nazarov (28) has been fouled more often.
Leitl succeeds Walpurgis
Four coaches have already lost their jobs this season, Ingolstadt's Maik Walpurgis, 43, joining Gertjan Verbeek (VfL Bochum), Thomas Letsch (Erzgebirge Aue) and Janos Radoki (Greuther Fürth) on the list of management casualties after league defeats against Union Berlin (1-0), Sandhausen (1-0) and Jahn Regensburg (4-2). Walpurgis was in charge for a total of 28 games.
Experience over youth
Caretaker boss Stefan Leitl opted for an experienced back four in the 1-0 win against Fürth and the 2-1 reverse against Aue. The average age of the starting lineup was 27.6 in both games. In Marvin Matip (31), Romain Brégerie (30), Christian Träsch (30), Marcel Gaus (28) and Alfredo Morales (27), Leitl has shown a clear preference for seasoned players at the back.
Photo: DFL
