Bundesliga: Heiko Herrlich finally makes debut as Augsburg manager after 75-day wait with 3-0 win over Schalke

Berlin: After waiting 75 days, Heiko Herrlich finally made his debut in charge of Augsburg in a 3-0 win at Schalke in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Herrlich had been due to make his Augsburg debut as the league resumed from its coronavirus-induced two-month break last weekend, but he broke quarantine restrictions to buy toiletries just days before and had to watch from afar as his side was beaten 2-1 at home by Wolfsburg.

Herrlich was only allowed to return to lead the side after twice testing negative for COVID-19, as per the league’s strict hygiene measures against the pandemic.

He could hardly have had a better start against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, where the game, like all Bundesliga games for the rest of the season, was played without any fans present.

Eduard Löwen opened the scoring with a fine free kick in the sixth minute, Noah Joel Sarenren Bazee punished a Schalke defensive error in the 76th and Sergio Cordova wrapped up Augsburg’s win in injury time.

Schalke was one of the clubs threatened financially by the league’s suspension, but David Wagner’s team has now conceded seven goals in two games since its resumption after the 4-0 derby defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

Later Sunday, Leipzig was playing at Mainz and Cologne was hosting Fortuna Düsseldorf for a Rhine derby.