"It's an important win for us," said the delighted Hoffenheim coach, Alfred Schreuder, after the3-0 away win at Werder Bremen. He was probably aware the convincing victory could see his team finally move up the table. Hoffenheim are only three points behind sixth, which was enough to guarantee European football last term. TSG just missed out last season – then coached by Julian Nagelsmann who is now at the helm at league leaders RB Leipzig. His successor Schreuder was almost under the radar with his team picking up more points in the first half of the season than Nagelsmann had in the previous two league campaigns.
After a difficult start to the season, Hoffenheim put together an impressive run in October and November with five wins on the bounce and recently the trend has again been upwards with three wins out of four games. Particularly impressive: Hoffenheim have again and again been able to trip up the big teams in the league. TSG secured a surprise 2-1 win in Munich and they finished the first half of the campaign with the same result against Borussia Dortmund. Hoffenheim also beat Schalke 2-0. The Schreuder team again have an opportunity to be the bogey side for the favourites next week when TSG are away to FC Bayern in the DFB Cup Round of 16 tie.
There were one or two changes to the Hoffenheim squad during the winter break. Particularly striking: The captain at the start of the season, Kevin Vogt, went out on loan to Werder Bremen after Schreuder did not include the central defender in the squad at the end of the first of the season although he had been a regular under Nagelsmann. Midfielder Lukas Rupp, who suffered a similar fate, joined Norwich City in the Premier League.
TSG have been active in the transfer market – primarily with the signing of Munas Dabbur. The prolific central striker was twice the tops goal score of the season in the Austrian league at RB Leipzig and he moved on to top Spanish club Sevilla in the summer. However, the Israeli never really settled and moved on to Hoffenheim after six months. Dabbur is looking to demonstrate his evident qualities as a dangerous striker in the penalty area and, if possible, help out star striker Andrej Kramaric. In the first game in the second half of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt, Dabbur came on after half-time and he made his first start in Bremen – albeit for just over 60 minutes. It is possible that he might go the full distance against the Werkself.
The second notable winter signing was a reaction to problems in goal. First-choice keeper Oliver Bulman, who was in outstanding form at the end of the first half of the season, suffered a knee injury at the winter training camp and is likely to be sidelined for a number of weeks. As the third keeper Alexander Stolz is also out injured, Hoffenheim signed Michael Esser from Hannover 96 and he has been on the bench for the last two games. That is because Philipp Pentke made his Bundesliga debut in goal at the age of 34. The shot-stopper has produced solid performances to date but he is not in the same class as Baumann.
More of a worry for Schreuder: Hoffenheim are playing Bayer 04 in front of their own fans – and that hasn't really suited TSG so far this season. They have suffered five defeats at home and also conceded 21 goals – only Paderborn and Werder Bremen have let in more.
Schreuder is carrying on at TSG where Ralf Rangnick and Julian Nagelsmann left off. The club likes to develop homegrown talent and give them a chance with the senior squad. A clear example: Werkself forward Nadiem Amiri started at Hoffenheim’s academy. Christoph Baumgartner has recently stood out. The attacking midfielder, who joined the TSG youth set-up from Austria at the age of 17, has started all of the last three Bundesliga games and he scored a lovely back-heel goal at Werder Bremen. 17-year-old Melayro Bogarde has also twice been on the bench in the Bundesliga. The future looks bright for Hoffenheim.
Hoffenheim have shown they are capable of beating any other side in the Bundesliga. TSG definitely have the quality to compete at the top. The chances are good that they might succeed this year where they just missed out last term: by qualifying for Europe.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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