Bundesliga: Hoffenheim loses at Union – Matarazzo’s situation remains tense

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim still seems to feel obliged to turn the famous adagio on its head, according to which money scores goals. Four days before their Europa League appearance at Danish representative FC Midtjylland, last year’s seventh-placed team suffered a 2-1 defeat at the still unbeaten 1. FC Union Berlin. It was the third defeat in four games of the season – and it was more than deserved due to the completely disastrous opening phase. Union scored both of its goals in the first six minutes of the game. There were no angry reactions from the stands, however, presumably due to the significant improvement in performance in the second half. The situation remains tense for coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. There were reports weeks ago that the club had contacted the national coach’s assistant Sandro Wagner.

On the eve of the match, Union coach Bo Svensson had warned about Hoffenheim’s financial strength and calculated that this summer alone they had spent 50 million euros on transfers (four times as much as Union). In terms of their financial strength, Hoffenheim must be counted among the top third of the Bundesliga. When the clock struck 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Hoffenheim was about as far away from being one of the top teams in the Bundesliga as the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is from the Milky Way.

One could doubt – is Alexander Prass really an Austrian international player?

Beyond tactical mistakes, every player had to “look in the mirror” to see why Union was so “sharper” than Hoffenheim, said TSG coach Matarazzo. The result: an ultimately unassailable 2-0 lead for Union. As soon as they realized that Hoffenheim’s defensive weapons were nothing but cotton balls, two Union newcomers, left-back Tom Rothe and attacker Wooyeong Jeong, took advantage of the – to put it mildly – inadequacies of the TSG defense to score two goals.

Rothe scored after the ball had bounced around the penalty area four or five times following a corner kick; Jeong, on the other hand, made TSG defender Alexander Prass look so inexperienced in the penalty area after Hoffenheim lost the ball that his status as an Austrian international player had to be questioned. With the two goals, Union had doubled the number of goals it had scored so far this season.

Not that it stayed that way. But every time the ball was at the feet of a Union player, TSG’s game faded. Hoffenheim were more concerned with themselves and less with their opponents. It was only shortly before half-time that something happened that seemed miraculous: Hoffenheim shot straight at the Köpenick goal from a distance through Tim Drexler. Goalkeeper Fredrik Rönnow was there confidently in his 100th competitive game for Union.

Whatever the Hoffenheim players discussed during the half-time break, it led to them trying to get back into the game – not least because Umut Tohumcu, who had recently been injured and sorely missed, provided stability in midfield after being substituted. Former Union player Marius Bülter tried his hand at crosses, first from the right and then from the left, which posed something of a threat to the Union goal. Shortly after being substituted, Haris “Fluppe” Tabakovic, who was reviled in Köpenick because of his Hertha past, made a name for himself with a header. All of these were harbingers of the goal that Bülter scored. He also scored because Union’s right-back Janik Haberer played the role of extra during Bülter’s dribble and allowed the Hoffenheim winger to score into the near corner from fourteen meters (67′).

Hoffenheim’s defensive weakness results in at least two goals conceded per game

The goal catalyzed a process that seemed unimaginable in the first half: Union lost control of the game. Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann had to overcome the toughest test, however, when Andras Schäfer almost turned a cross from the right-hand side into the goal. Baumann swept the ball away for a corner. The tension remained – but the punishment for Hoffenheim’s defensive weakness remained the same. TSG has conceded at least two goals in each of its four games.

Nevertheless, there was encouraging applause from the active fan scene for the team – and Matarazzo. Support also came from the team, namely from the goalscorer Bülter. The coach is trying to block out the unrest that is currently prevailing in and around the club – and which is of course being passed on to the team. Matarazzo is still trying to get the team in good shape – also in Berlin. The bad start to the first half was not his fault, “that was our fault,” said Bülter.