What awaits FC Bayern against the best Hoffenheim of all time

The FC Bayern players have had eight days to digest the 2-2 draw at Hamburger SV and prepare for Bundesliga Matchday 21’s standout fixture. On Sunday, the league leaders from Munich host third-placed TSG Hoffenheim, a surprise team, at the Allianz Arena. Find out why the team from the Kraichgau region are currently getting a lot of things right and among the top sides in the table in our pre-match opposition profile.

TSG Hoffenheim are experiencing a historic high in the Bundesliga this season: After 20 matchdays, head coach Christian Ilzer's side are in third place on 42 points after 13 wins - the highest number of points TSG have ever had at this point of the league campaign in the club's history. In the three-point era, no team in third place has ever had more points after 20 games. January 2026 in particular turned out to be a golden month: five games, five wins and a goal difference of +20, which also marked a new club record. Hoffenheim are the only team to have won all of their games since the turn of the year, and TSG are unbeaten in seven competitive matches since the beginning of December. Although their last defeat to date did come on the road at Borussia Dortmund (2-0), Hoffenheim have shown top match qualities since November with victories at Frankfurt (3-1), against Leverkusen (1-0) and at RB Leipzig (3-1).

Hoffenheim are not only convincing up front, but also defensively and lead the league in numerous statistics - only FC Bayern have scored more goals. The solid defence, after years of conceding over 60 goals at times, symbolises TSG's resurgence and has earned praise from the media: There's talk of the ‘best Hoffenheim of all time’ and coach Ilzer is already being compared to Julian Nagelsmann.

How Hoffenheim play

Under top coach Christian Ilzer, who might have feared for his job after finishing 15th last season, Hoffenheim now have significantly more points (42) than after 34 matchdays last year (32). The Austrian often sets up his side in a 4-3-3 system. In front of Germany international goalkeeper Oliver Baumann is a back four that is often set up like this: Bernardo defends on the left, alongside Albian Hajdari or Robin Hranac, with the fit-again defensive boss Ozan Kabak on the right. Vladimir Coufal is now firmly established at right-back after some strong performances. The Czech veteran came in at the start of the season as a replacement for the long-term injured Valentin Gendrey, but has since become an integral part of the starting XI. Gendrey has now recovered, but will have to take his place behind Coufal for the time being.

In the centre of midfield, 21-year-old rising star Leon Avdullahu pulls the strings and provides back-up for the two attacking midfielders. These two positions are often rotated, with Hoffenheim legend Andrej Kramarić and top new signing Wouter Burger usually filling in there. After 20 matchdays, the 24-year-old Dutchman has scored an outstanding five goals and provided nine assists for TSG - but the attack-minded midfielder will be suspended for the game against Bayern. Grischa Prömel, who's often been hampered by injuries in the past but has already proven his great Bundesliga quality as a box-to-box player on several occasions, is a high-calibre alternative.

Then there's the real centrepiece of the Hoffenheim formation - the three-man attack. 43 goals in 20 games is an outstanding achievement and puts them in second place in the Bundesliga - ahead of Dortmund (41) and Frankfurt (40) - but behind FC Bayern (74). The powerful centre-forward Fisnik Asllani (23) is often complemented by the two fast and lively wingers Tim Lemperle (23) and Bazoumana Touré (19). Collectively, the trio have been involved in 24 goals in the current Bundesliga season. Other attacking options include the versatile Alexander Prass, who played at full-back last season but is now increasingly being deployed as a winger. He scored his first goal of the season with a long-range effort in the away win at Bremen. And then there's Max Moerstedt. The 20-year-old centre-forward, who is 1.94 metres tall, also had a spell at the FC Bayern Campus in the 2020/2021 season.

A look at the squad reveals that with Coufal, Bernardo and Hajdari in defence, Avdullahu and Burger in midfield and Lemperle, Asllani and Touré (who arrived in February last year) in attack, eight new signings are regularly in the starting XI and are establishing themselves at the top of the Bundesliga. That speaks for a functioning pairing in the sporting management, consisting of coach Ilzer and managing director sports Andreas Schicker, who had already previously worked together successfully at Sturm Graz. "We wanted players who think in both directions. Forwards and backwards," said Ilzer regarding the successful summer transfer period.

The secret of TSG’s success

All of these options give Ilzer many opportunities to attack the really big goals. "I want to take TSG Hoffenheim back into Europe within three years," the 48-year-old said in a kicker interview at the end of March. TSG are currently on course for the Champions League and could reach Europe's premier club competition for the second time since the Nagelsmann era in the tranquil Kraichgau region of Baden - but even qualifying for Europe at all would be a great success. The TSG coach recently commented on the club's current impressive form, saying that they currently have “a lot of momentum, but you can only create that if you have good team spirit and sacrifice a lot to achieve your goal”.

His team does just that, not only playing attractive football, but also impressing in terms of putting in the legwork: "We're an extremely hungry team," confirmed Grischa Prömel, "we create a lot of chances, the processes are right, it's enormous fun on the pitch." After 20 matchdays, only FC Bayern have covered more distance (2,477 km) than Hoffenheim (2,467), while TSG's Coufal is also the player with the highest mileage in the German top flight (11.95 kilometres per game).

Coufal is an important cornerstone of TSG's solid defence, which is the third best in the league this season after conceding more than 60 goals in each of the last two campaigns. The newly formed defence is the backbone of the entire team and keeper Oliver Baumann - boosted by his status as the German number one - is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career.

Lessons learnt from the reverse fixture

In the reverse fixture against FC Bayern, TSG showed how to make life difficult for the record champions by employing tactical finesse. Variably pressing in a 4-4-2 formation, Hoffenheim focused on taking playmaker Aleksandar Pavlović out of the centre and winning the ball by attacking aggressively in midfield. The Bavarians were deliberately lured onto the flanks, where Hoffenheim put their full-backs under pressure and shifted play flexibly, deploying a wide four-man backline and a tight midfield formation. Bayern initially struggled to create any real space on the wings and often played cross-field passes, while TSG moved the ball quickly and collectively to the flanks.

Hoffenheim were also very clever when in possession: The strikers dropped back in the build-up to set up the advancing wingers with long balls and goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was immense whenever FCB went into a high press. Despite a strong first half (0-1) and a tactically clever approach, Hoffenheim ultimately lacked precision and penetration in the final third. In the end, FC Bayern - thanks in part to momentum from the bench - ran out clear 4-1 winners - proof of how crucial individual class and efficiency are at the highest level. Harry Kane had a successful outing with a hat-trick, while Serge Gnabry also got on the scoresheet. Coufal got Hoffenheim's consolation goal.

On Sunday, the team from the Kraichgau region would like to use the momentum from the past few weeks as they look to keep the game exciting until the end and take away at least a point from the Allianz Arena.

The facts on the top match against Hoffenheim: