Hard earned win in Stadelhofen

Coach Babbel made plenty of changes to the side that played the day before, with only Fabian Johnson finding himself in the starting line-up for the second day in the row. Sandro Wieser was not able to make the trip having picked up an injury during training on Friday. A diagnosis for the injury is expected at the start of next week.

The opening twenty minutes of the game saw Hoffenheim camp outside the opponent's area, but not able to create any meaningful chances until Gyau missed the biggest chance of the game in the 20th minute.

SV Stadelhofen, a fifth division club, soon began to create chances of their own, but neither Patrick Ben-Aissa nor Martin Weschle were able to get past Hoffenheim keeper Koen Casteels. Like in the test game on Friday, coach Babbel made no changes at half time. His confidence in the players was soon repaid, as Joseph-Claude Gyau was on target five minutes into the second half to give Hoffenheim the 1-0 lead.

After Thesker missed the next big chance in the 58th minute, coach Babbel made two changes in Sven Schipplock replacing Michael Gregoritsch and Ahmed Sassi coming on for Ryan Babbel. Both substitutes immediately had an impact on the game. Tunisian Sassi required only very little time to accustom himself, as he doubled Hoffenheim's lead in the 65th minute, assisted by the other substitute Sven Schipplock.

The hosts were not willing to cave in, as they continued to push forward and create chances. The next goal however, was again scored by the top flight club. This time, Sassi set up Schipplock who converted for the 3-0 in the 85th minute.

The going was tough for Hoffenheim, but coach Babbel knows that the team has endured an intense pre-season preparation so far: “We can play better football than we showed here today. The players were visibly tired and if you then lack a bit of concentration, you start to have problems in a game like this. However, Stadelhofen also showed a good performance, especially in the first half.” After the intense week of training, Tobias Weis was pleased that he and his teammates would receive a well deserved day off. “We worked hard in this game, despite feeling tired. We are now all looking forward to a day off, before we fully commit ourselves to the next weeks of our pre-season preparation.”

SV Stadelhofen 0 - 3 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

TSG: Casteels – Thesker, Johnson, Vorsah, Schröck - Babel (Sassi, 61'), Weis, Firmino, Gyau - Gregoritsch (Schipplock, 61')

Goals: 0-1 Gyau (50'), 0-2 Sassi (65'), 0-3 Schipplock (85')

Attendance: 1,500