Damage in the Box!: TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM (Rhein-Neckar Arena)

This weekend was another 'Bundesliga' weekend with three games in two days. Not even the sub zero temperatures could put off my trip to Germany!

First game of the weekend was a trip to Sinsheim to see Hoffenheim take on bottom of the league Augsburg.

Hoffenheim are the village club (population of around 3,200) that have been bankrolled all the way to the Bundesliga, in the process making themselves pretty unpopular with other fans. Since the early nineties they have risen from the 8th tier of German football to where they are today. They eventually reached the 2.Bundesliga for season 2007-2008, which was actually their first season as a professional club. They finished second in this season to take their place amongst the German elite.

In the 2008-2009 they actually topped the Bundesliga at the winter break, but when injuries to key players hit they fell away to finish 7th. In the following seasons they consolidated their position in mid-table with two successive 11th place finishes.

The man responsible for this meteoric rise is Dietmar Sopp, a former Hoffenheim youth player, who founded software company SAP. At the time of their promotion it was estimated he had ploughed around €120M into the club. He also financed the building of a brand new 31,000 capacity stadium in the nearby town of Sinsheim.

Which brings me nicely onto why I was here today!

The ground is situated just off the A6 (which was lucky as I was driving in Germany for the very first time) but is basically in the middle of nowhere. It was quite an impressive arena though. There were no 'proper' bars within a 15 minute walk of the ground, so had to make do with a Currywurst and Coffee from a small cafe nearby.

The game was decent enough, but in truth neither side are going to pull up any trees this season. Hoffenheim, who had ex-RS player Ryan Babel (who is still crap) in their line up, fell behind when Sascha Mölders scored for the visitors after 31 minutes. The homesters were level after 38 minutes when Peniel Mlapa lobbed the onrushing Simon Jentzsch and the ball went over the line despite the best efforts of the two covering Augsburg defenders.

Hoffenheim took the lead from the penalty spot on 51 minutes when Sejad Salihović scored after Roberto Firmino was fouled. The visitors got a deserved equaliser after 72 minutes when Sebastian Langkamp's header from a corner was fumbled over the line by home 'keeper Tom Starke.

It was a relief to get back to the car as the second half was spent stood up at the back of the stand trying to keep warm as temperatures dipped to around -10°C. It was then onward to Karlsruhe in readiness for Sunday's feast of football...weather permitting of course!