Markus Gisdol: "Not afraid of Leverkusen"

"We aren't afraid of Leverkusen,“ explained Gisdol. “A possible defeat is no reason for us to be afraid. That's just part of sport.” The manager does however have respect for Leverkusen, as he stated in the press conference before the game. Gisdol should have no selection issues for the game against fourth-placed Leverkusen. Only David Abraham will be unavailable for TSG, after a scar reopened on his thigh.

Even without the “important pillars”, Gisdol's side will do all they can to pick up points in Leverkusen. Hoffenheim cannot afford a single mistake. “Leverkusen can't be measured on their recent results. They are a top team that have the chance to finish in the top four sides in the league. They are fully of quality, but everything is possible in a game. Leverkusen looked very stable against both Bayern Munich and PSG recently. Before that, they had had some problems.”

Ghost goal? Unimportant!

The ghost goal, one which wrote history for both of these sides and for football itself in the early meeting this season, won't play a role in the build-up to this game. “That game is in the back of our minds, which is why it would be nice to be successful, but it's nothing more than that,” said Gisdol. “This goal will remain unique in the Bundesliga. Processing that was difficult and I don't want to experience that again.”

Gisdol is hoping to field his best possible side. There will be no tactical glance to next week's busy fixture list – Hoffenheim play Hannover 96 at 20:00 CET on Wednesday, March 26th before travelling to Bayern Munich on Saturday, March 29th for a 15:30 CET kick-off. After all, as Gisdol says: “The focus is one hundred percent on the next game.” Everything else is a noisy distraction and both he and his team are in no need for that ahead of the difficult away game in the BayArena.

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