What the papers say: Man down helps Hoffenheim

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung describes the decisive moment of the game: "Ahead of the kick-off, all eyes were on Kevin Volland who replaced the injured striker Javier Hernandez in the Bayer 04 Leverkusen starting eleven.' It will be a special game for Kevin and I believe he’s looking forward to being able to play against us,' said the Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann. The match against his former employer did indeed turn out to be a special game for Volland for the simple reason that it was over after just six minutes. Referee Bastian Dankert punished a professional foul by the striker, who wanted to help out in defence, with a red card. From that point on TSG had an easy time against their supposed bogey team…"

The Cologne-based Sonntags Express quotes Kevin Volland on what happened. "That turned everything om its head. It was a 50-50 situation. You can show a red card but you don't have to. I'm sorry for the team."

For Bild am Sonntag one thing stands out about the TSG Hoffenheim team : The league is in awe of Hoffenheim: The impressive 3-0 win at Leverkusen was the fourth win in succession and no other team has managed that so far. Defender Süle: 'The coach changed from a back three to a flexible back five just before that. No problem as we play different systems under him.' The victory for the team coached by Julian Nagelsmann (29) could have been by an even bigger margin. That gives the young team (24.9 years on average) a boost for the top match against Hertha on Sunday. The crucial moment in the game: the early red card for Kevin Volland."

The specialist journal Kicker (online) did recognise that the Werkself did fight back after the sending off and conceding the first early goal: "How would Leverkusen react to the double blow after the first quarter of an hour? They were not particularly upset. Thanks to an impressive work rate, the Werkself slowly got back into the game. Brandt and Kampl, who moved into middle after the sending off, again and again instigated attacks. On 24 minutes, Hoffenheim, going through a passive phase, were unlucky not to concede an equaliser. Aranguiz cleverly lobbed the ball over the back three to put Brandt through on goal. However, he missed the target by almost two feet from a decent position on the left side of the box."

For the Cologne-based Stadt Anzeiger (online) the Werkself did not enjoy a good day as a collective on Saturday: "Bayer 04 did not lose this game solely due to the early sending off. Regardless of being a man down some, no, too many Leverkusen players were clearly below par on the day or, simply, ... out of luck on a forgettable afternoon.