Alfred Schreuder set for dugout debut

After two intensive weeks of training, the time has almost come for TSG Hoffenheim's first pre-season friendly ahead of the 2019/20 Bundesliga campaign. The match against Eintracht Braunschweig (15:30 CET) will be the first time in the dugout for Dutchman Alfred Schreuder, the new head coach. The match venue will be the ground of SV Alemannia Sattelbach – Dennis Geiger's former club.

The Hoffenheim midfielder will not be able to feature himself due to an injury he sustained last season, but he is still keenly anticipating the match: "It's obviously nice to return to my hometown club with my team, even though the game comes a bit too early for me to play. But in any case, I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I used to know – whether they are from the club or the region."

While it's the first friendly of TSG Hoffenheim's pre-season, it will be the last non-competitive match for Eintracht before their league fixtures get under way. Their third-division campaign will start on 20 July with a trip away to 1. FC Magdeburg.

The powers-that-be at the Lower Saxony club will be hoping for an end to the turbulence of recent years. Having narrowly missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga at the end of the 2016/17 campaign after losing to VfL Wolfsburg in the relegation/promotion play-off, the Lions dropped down to the third division the following season. The 1967 German champions were rooted to the bottom of the table until Matchday 24, but a late charge saw coach André Schubert's team narrowly beat the drop on the final day of the season on account of their superior goal difference. That turbulence continued in the off-season as boss Schubert quit the club in order to take over the reins at Holstein Kiel in the 2. Bundesliga. He has been replaced by Christian Flüthmann, who served as his assistant.

There will be a familiar face in the Eintracht Braunschweig squad that faces TSG on Saturday: Alfons Amade joined the third-tier outfit on loan for a season last week and will immediately come up against his former team-mates.

Match facts and statistics »