Feldkirchen Day 5: Stalemate against Rapid Wien

The majority of the team that beat SV Reid 2-0 on Saturdays test match were given the day off by coach Stanislawski. Only Ryan Babel, who was named Hoffenheim's captain during the first half, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Roberto Firmino, Fabian Johnson and Tobias Weis were back in the starting line-up after having also played against Ried on Saturday. Out of these five players, only Babel played the full 90 minutes against Ried.

Rapid well into their season preparation

The Austrian Bundesliga is due to kick off in just a weeks time and hence Rapid Wien are already coming to an end of their season preparation. However, Hoffenheim had the first chance of the game. Tobias Weis sent Peniel Mlapa into the area with a fine pass. Mlapa curved around Rapid keeper Payer and crossed the ball to Firmino, who was unable to control his header after 14 minutes.

Rapid was content to get the ball up the pitch quickly, but they were lacking precision with their final pass. After 23 minutes they created their first decent chance. Salihi's header just missed the target following a good combination on the wing. Babel, already one of Hoffenheim's best against Ried, was once more one of the more active players on the pitch. With 33 minutes on the clock, Rapid got dangerously close to scoring the opener. Prokopic managed to get the ball past Daniel Haas but the last ditch clearance of Jukka Raitala prevented his goal-celebration.

Chances at either end

Stanislawski made three changes at half time. Tagoe came on for Babel, Thomalla replaced Sigurdsson and Beck for Raitala. The second half started off with fireworks at either end. First, Salihi found his master in Daniel Haas (51') and three minutes later Firmino nearly managed to give Hoffenheim the lead but also failed to beat the keeper. After another Rapid chance and a good save by Haas, it took almost twenty minutes before the next opportunity was created. Alar was charging towards the goal of Haas all by himself following a long ball. The Hoffenheim keeper reacted brilliantly however and managed to clear the ball with his feet before Alar could find a finish. Six minutes before the final whistle, Hoffenheim nearly snatched the winner. Kaiser found Ibisevic unmarked in the area, but the strikers attempt was blocked by Payer and thus the game ended with a 0-0 draw.

1899 Hoffenheim: Haas – Johnson (63' Ruck), Compper, Vestergaard, Raitala (46' Beck) – Weis (63' Rudy), Kaiser – Firmino (63' Salihovic), Sigurdsson (46' Thomalla) – Mlapa (63' Ibisevic), Babel (46' Tagoe).
Rapid Wien: Payer – Schrammel (59' Katzer), Sonnleitner, Drazan (59' Patocka), Pichler - Schimpelsberger, Kulovits, Hofmann (26' Trimmel), Prokopic (59' Nuhiu) – Heikkinen (46' Alar), Salihi (59' Saurer)
Goals: none. Bookings: Yellow card for Firmino (40'); Pichler (32'). Referee: Harald Lechner. Attendance: 8700.