Opposition Check: TSG Hoffenheim

“For the first time since Wolfsburg in the 1997/98 season, a Bundesliga newcomer, 1899 Hoffenheim, was able to win its debut game. “The Rangnick protégés at Energie Cottbus did this in a convincing manner,” wrote “Kicker” on August 18, 2008, after Hoffenheim had won their first Bundesliga game in the club’s history. Vedad Ibisevic immediately impressed with two goals, and after the first half of the season there were to be a total of 18 goals.

Under Ralf Rangnick, the newly promoted team played strong offensive football; after the first half of the season, TSG had scored 42 goals, more than any other Bundesliga team. This led to Baden-Württemberg becoming autumn champions with 35 points. In the second half of the season, however, the great high came to an end; Rangnick’s team had to survive a series of 12 games without a win. In the end, TSG came seventh in the table, 25 points ahead of the relegation place, and the season immediately showed what goals Hoffenheim were pursuing.

For the next four years it was to be a single-digit place in the table. In 2013, Hoffenheim only managed to stay in the league via relegation, but here they were able to defeat 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the south-west duel. The Sinsheimers made it into Europe for the first time in 2017, and a year later they even achieved a direct Champions League place.

Hoffenheim qualified for Europe for the last time in 2020; after a sixth place in the Bundesliga, TSG competed in the Europa League. It remains to be seen whether it will be enough to qualify for Europe this year. Two match days before the end of the season, head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team is in eighth place in the table. If Leverkusen wins the cup, this would be enough to qualify for the Conference League. The Hoffenheim team urgently need three points on Sunday, Augsburg is coming from behind, but with two wins the Europa League could just as well beckon.

Pellegrino Matarazzo

Hoffenheim can rely on one thing this season and that is their striker goals. Overall, TSG is in the top third of the league with 56 goals, 38 of which were scored by Baden-Württemberg’s attackers. Maximilian Beier and Andrej Kramaric alone have 25 goals, but Weghorst and Bebou also pose a goal threat.

The Hoffenheim players also run a lot; with 3,838 kilometers, TSG has the third-best mileage in the entire league.

“I went to boarding school in Cottbus and was only at home for one day at the weekend. It was difficult to drive back to Cottbus every time. During this phase, I also had thoughts of perhaps quitting football altogether,“ young star Maximilian Beier described his doubts in an interview with TSG Hoffenheim and continued: „I was just too homesick. The distance from my parents and being alone in Cottbus put a lot of strain on me and it was sometimes no longer possible.“ From a Bundesliga fan’s point of view, you can say today: Fortunately, Beier didn’t stop. The 21-year-old is playing a very strong season, and was also recently rewarded by national coach Julian Nagelsmann with a national team nomination.

Both stories show the character of the Hoffenheim offensive player. Maximilian Beier is a quiet, reserved guy and describes himself as shy. “My girlfriend and I used to argue about who would approach the cashier in the supermarket to ask where something was in the store,” remembers Beier.

The striker, who was born in Brandenburg an der Havel, moved to boarding school at Energie Cottbus at the age of 12, two and a half hours away from his parents‘ home. A huge challenge for the shy Beier, who still has exam anxiety to this day. His coach at the time, Patrick Schrade, prevented him from moving out of the boarding school. “He picked me up from the train station or even went out to eat with me,” Beier remembers, “I’m still very grateful to him to this day!”

Beier’s move to TSG Hoffenheim at the age of 16 seems all the more astonishing, as the distance home was now significantly greater. Beier himself believes that he was much tougher and that the experience from Cottbus also helped him. The attacker immediately impressed in the U17 Bundesliga, scoring 18 times in 26 games. The Bundesliga debut followed in the 2019/20 season.

However, Beier did not achieve his final breakthrough in Kraichgau; the now 21-year-old was loaned out to Hannover 96 for two years, where his star continued to rise. But very few people expected how “Maxi” began the 2023/24 season. After eight games, Beier had six goals and in the first ten matchdays he had a total of nine goals.

Maximilian Beier wants to play internationally with TSG Hoffenheim next season, but whether he succeeds will certainly depend on his performances in the last two games. If you move into the Europa or Conference League, the television viewer may also be able to look forward to a rather rare Beier interview.