High-flying Hoffenheim host St. Pauli at the PreZero Arena on Matchday 24 as they look to further establish themselves as UEFA Champions League contenders. Sitting third with eight straight victories at home under Christian Ilzer, the Sinsheim club are seemingly riding the crest of a wave that shows no sign of dissipating any time soon.
Die Kraichgauer’s rise this season should be described as nothing short of remarkable. After languishing in the lower reaches of the Bundesliga table for much of last season, Ilzer – Austrian double winner with Sturm Graz – came in to steady a sinking ship in November 2024, to finish 15th, three points above the relegation play-off to secure Hoffenheim’s Bundesliga status.
In an attempt to improve their fortunes, the club, backed by software billionaire Dietmar Hopp, had a summer of rebuilding – making a total of nine first team signings throughout the transfer window. Most of whom have made a positive impact, particularly the likes of Wouter Burger (€4m from Stoke City) as well as three astute free transfers: full-backs Bernardo and Vladimir Coufal, and forward Tim Lemperle, with the Sinsheimers proving difficult to beat.
Hoffenheim overcome Champions League competition
Having tasted victory in their last eight home games, Hoffenheim’s form at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena has been critical to their impressive first half of the season. In those home games they comfortably dispatched of direct rivals RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, as well as putting a total of nine goals past Hamburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach before comfortably beating Freiburg in their last home outing with Fisnik Asllani – returning from a loan spell at Elversberg – slotting straight into Ilzer’s side, striking his seventh of the campaign.
Equally, Hoffenheim’s away form has been similarly strong with defeats only against Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich while overcoming Eintracht Frankfurt and securing a valuable point at VfB Stuttgart, whom they sit three points above.
Following the summer rebuild, Hoffenheim’s players very rarely have an off day – but when they do, it tends not to matter. Sharing the goals around the team more effectively than any other side with 12 different players finding the net this season, Bundesliga veteran Andrej Kramaric (10) leads the way ahead of Asllani (7), Grischa Prömel and Tim Lemperle (6), with Ozan Kabak and Wouter Burger (4) following closely behind.
Aside from sitting behind only Bayern Munich (85 goals) in the scoring charts having found the net 49 times this term, level with Dortmund, they are also rock solid at the back with only 30 goals conceded – the league’s fourth best defensive record.
Notably, this success has come through the recruitment of players deemed surplus to requirements elsewhere, such as Bernardo and Coufal while Albian Hajdari, a €5m arrival from Swiss outlet Lugano, has established himself as a mainstay in Ilzer’s defence, featuring in 20 of 23 Bundesliga games so far this season.
Taken together, these factors underline why Hoffenheim’s rise has been both sustainable and convincing. Whether they can maintain this level until the end of the season is anyone’s guess, but at present there is little to suggest a significant downturn.
“In five years time, I want to be playing for the title,” remarked Ilzer in March 2025. With European football appearing a realistic objective, they find themselves a year ahead of schedule in the Austrian’s self-publicised five-year plan to turn Hoffenheim into a Bundesliga powerhouse.
GGFN | Harry Good
