“Every single player must be on top form” – BVB without Adeyemi, but with a mission against Hoffenheim | OneFootball

The scenarioBorussia Dortmund remain in second place and can secure early qualification for the Champions League on Matchday 30 if BVB win at Hoffenheim and Leverkusen (currently fifth, 12 points behind) fail to beat Augsburg. “We want to secure Champions League qualification as soon as possible,” says BVB head coach Niko Kovac, setting out the plan for the weekend. “That would be a really good achievement, but we’ll have to give it our all.” He has a special arrangement with his players: the team has one day off a week. If they win at the weekend, they can secure an extra day off per week. “The lads did well against HSV and Stuttgart. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out against Leverkusen, so there was no second day off,” says Kovac, “but with tomorrow’s match, we can earn ourselves an extra day again.”

Personnel mattersIn addition to the known absentees (Emre Can, Felix Nmecha), Karim Adeyemi will also miss the match in Sinsheim: the attacking player is struggling with muscle problems. Yan Couto, who was recently sidelined with injury, is once again an option for the match against TSG. Filippo Mane has rejoined team training this week. Serhou Guirassy had to cut short public training on Tuesday following a collision with Nico Schlotterbeck, but was back on the pitch the very next day.

The oppositionFrom Matchday 18 onwards, Hoffenheim occupied third place in the table, making them BVB’s closest challengers. However, following a 5-0 defeat in Leipzig on Matchday 27, the team slipped out of the Champions League places. Hoffenheim have now gone four Bundesliga matchdays without a win, most recently drawing 2–2 with Augsburg. The team currently sits sixth in the table.

“Hoffenheim are having a great season. We can see that the recent results haven’t been so positive. But we know there’s a lot at stake, that TSG are keen to get into the Champions League,” said Kovac about the opponents. “Every single player who takes to the pitch tomorrow must be sharp, must be at their best. TSG will continue to play their brand of football, which is very intense.” The two clubs met in the first half of the season in early December. On that occasion, BVB won 2-0 thanks to goals from Julian Brandt and Nico Schlotterbeck.

Positive recordAcross all competitions, BVB and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim have faced each other 38 times so far. The Black & Yellows have won 19 of these encounters, 11 matches ended in a draw, and TSG have come out on top eight times. In recent years in particular, BVB have become a real hurdle for Hoffenheim: in the last 11 Bundesliga encounters, Dortmund have emerged victorious eight times, with two draws and just one Hoffenheim win – in February 2024. Most recently, BVB even celebrated five away wins in a row against TSG. On Saturday, away win number six will hopefully follow.