Ten-man Hoffenheim suffer bitter defeat

Personnel & tactics:

Despite the injury crisis brewing in the Hoffenheim camp, Julian Nagelsmann made hardly any changes to the starting XI with only Joshua Brenet replacing Pavel Kaderabek for the trip to Frankfurt. Goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was protected by a centre-back pairing of Kasim Adams and Stefan Posch, while Nico Schulz and Joshua Brenet occupied the wing-back berths. Florian Grillitsch started in the defensive midfield slot and often dropped back between the two centre-backs, while Kerem Demirbay and Nadiem Amiri formed the attacking midfield partnership and the front three consisted of Ishak Belfodil, Andrej Kramaric and Joelinton. Among the substitutes were Alexander Stolz, Reiss Nelson, David Otto and Adam Szalai, as well as the youngsters Alfons Amade, Nicolas Wähling and Moody Chana.

TSG demonstrated tactical flexibility from the off and repeatedly switched between a back three and four. But when Kerem Demirbay was forced off with a calf problem on the 37-minute mark and Adam Szalai was sent on in his stead, Julian Nagelsmann switched to a back four. From that point onwards, Grillitsch and Amiri played in central midfield in front of the defence, with Kramaric slightly ahead of them. Joelinton and Belfodil occupied the wing forward slots, with Szalai the sole striker in a 4-2-3-1 system.

Once Adams had been dismissed for two bookable offences, Grillitsch dropped back into central defence alongside Posch. Reiss Nelson replaced Ishak Belfodil on 78 minutes, with an injury forcing Amiri off five minutes later and Alfons Amade handed his Bundesliga debut by Nagelsmann. He is the first player from the TSG child prospects team to have made an appearance in the Bundesliga.

Moment of the match:

The dismissal of Kasim Adams. Rode played a pass in behind the Hoffenheim defence and Adams, who was already on a booking, brought down Haller. The referee immediately brandished a second yellow and sent him off. Down to 10 men, TSG could not defend their 2-1 lead.

Number of the game:

16 – that's how many minutes Bundesliga debutant Alfons Amade got on the pitch given the eight minutes of stoppage time. The 19-year-old has been at the club since 2009.

Match facts and statistics »