For the Haters
High as they flew, hard as they fell:
High as they flew, hard as they fell: promoted Hoffenheim stormed to the “autumn championship” in the Bundesliga in 2008.
promoted Hoffenheim stormed to the “autumn championship” in the Bundesliga in 2008. The last team to do that as a newly promoted side had been Kaiserslautern in 1997, and they went on to become champions. Hoffenheim did not. After an incredible run under coach Ralf Rangnick, with eleven wins, only four defeats and 35 points from 17 matches, plus the best home record in the temporary venue in Mannheim, came the crash.
Hoffenheim managed only 20 points in the second half of the season and ended up seventh with 55 points, outside the European places. To this day, that remains the worst final placing ever recorded by a Bundesliga autumn champion.
0–4 at Berliner AK: Hoffenheim’s biggest footballing embarra...
0–4 at Berliner AK: Hoffenheim’s biggest footballing embarrassment appears in the results list of the first round of the 2012/13 DFB-Pokal.
0–4 at Berliner AK: Hoffenheim’s biggest footballing embarrassment appears in the results list of the first round of the 2012/13 DFB-Pokal. TSG lost 4–0 to fourth-tier Regionalliga side Berliner AK. Never before had a Bundesliga club been knocked out of the cup by a Regionalliga team by such a heavy scoreline.
Please not Munich again: Bayern would not be
Please not Munich again: Bayern would not be Bayern if they did not comment on the upstarts from Hoffenheim in their usual ironic style.
Bayern if they did not comment on the upstarts from Hoffenheim in their usual ironic style. When Hoffenheim travelled to Munich as league leaders in autumn 2008, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge asked: “1899 Hoffenheim? Where have they been hiding all these years?” We do not know.
What we do know is that Bayern’s 2–1 win in the top match on 5 December 2008 started a dreadful negative run for Hoffenheim in Munich. From eleven matches at the Allianz Arena, Hoffe took just two draws. Then came 5 October 2019, when the black run finally ended at the last Oktoberfest weekend, of all times, with Hoffenheim winning 2–1 in Munich.
At home, the balance sheet is not much better. Hoffenheim’s first of only two wins over Bayern in eleven years came as late as 2016/17. Against no other opponent had the Kraichgau club suffered more defeats than against Bayern by December 2019: 15.
Champions League in a village? Surely not. Hoffenheim’s
Champions League in a village?
Champions League debut in 2018/19 was deeply underwhelming. With only three points from six group-stage matches against Manchester City, Olympique Lyon and Shakhtar Donetsk, Hoffenheim produced the weakest campaign ever by a German club debuting in the Champions League.
The catastrophe year of 2012/13: in that season
The catastrophe year of 2012/13: in that season it looked as though Hoffenheim would be leaving the Bundesliga again after five years.
it looked as though Hoffenheim would be leaving the Bundesliga again after five years. Only a highly dramatic 2–1 win away to reigning champions and Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund on the final day saved Markus Gisdol’s team, coached by the fourth manager of that season, from direct relegation and steered them into the playoff against Kaiserslautern. Nineteen defeats and only eight wins remain Hoffenheim’s negative Bundesliga records to this day.
Heaviest defeat in professional football: in 2011/12, the
Heaviest defeat in professional football: in 2011/12, the 1–7 at Bayern Munich became Hoffenheim’s heaviest loss in professional football up to Decemb...
1–7 at Bayern Munich became Hoffenheim’s heaviest loss in professional football up to December 2019.
Heaviest home defeat: Hoffenheim’s worst home loss in
Heaviest home defeat: Hoffenheim’s worst home loss in the Bundesliga came on matchday two of 2012/13, a 0–4 against Eintracht Frankfurt....
the Bundesliga came on matchday two of 2012/13, a 0–4 against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Longest losing streak: Hoffenheim twice lost six matches
Longest losing streak: Hoffenheim twice lost six matches in a row in professional football, once in 2011/12 and once in 2012/13....
in a row in professional football, once in 2011/12 and once in 2012/13.
Most defeats in a season: nineteen defeats in
Most defeats in a season: nineteen defeats in 2012/13 remain the negative record for the Kraichgau club....
2012/13 remain the negative record for the Kraichgau club.
Longest winless run: Hoffe went twelve league matches
Longest winless run: Hoffe went twelve league matches without a win in 2008/09, from matchdays 19 to 30....
without a win in 2008/09, from matchdays 19 to 30.
DFL Licence Check
TSG · FY 2023-24For the Haters — Update 2020–2026
TSG remained a club of the middle — despite the Hopp millions.
TSG remained a club of the middle —
TSG remained a club of the middle — despite the Hopp millions.
despite the Hopp millions. In 2022/23, under Andre Breitenreiter, Hoffenheim drifted into the relegation battle. Never really at the bottom, but never really near the top either. For critics of the Hoffenheim model, that was the ultimate confirmation: money alone does not make a top club.
TSG — Financial Stability Score
Hoffenheim ist ein bilanzielles Paradox: Hervorragende EK-Quote (71,4%) bei gleichzeitig höchster PK-Quote der Liga (61,7%). Übersetzt: Hopp hat viel Geld reingesteckt (hohes EK), aber die laufenden Kosten fressen es auf. Ohne Hopp wäre Hoffenheim weder in der Lage, Bundesliga-Gehälter zu zahlen, noch den Spielbetrieb am Standort Sinsheim aufrechtzuerhalten. Die zentrale Frage: Was passiert nach Hopp?