"We'll try to attack Bayern"

Julian Nagelsmann on…

…the preparations: "The lads made a good impression in our preparations. They all came back refreshed and the lactate scores were in the right range. It was a very short preparation period. We only trained for 13 days but the sessions were very good. Our development will continue during the second half of the season."

…the match on Friday: "It's important that you don't always surrender when you play against Bayern. It'll be a tough battle. We'll try to attack Bayern and to not let them leave with any points. It'll largely be down to us how we perform. We need to perform in the same way we did in the second half of our first meeting earlier this season."

…the first half of the season: "The momentum was only on our side in a few games in the first half of the season. We had to invest a lot and didn't amass enough points considering the way we played."

…the personnel situation: "Dennis Geiger is a little bit further than Nadiem Amiri as he's been training for longer. In Lukas Rupp's case, it's hard to give a prognosis. His knee still needs some time to catch up. We hope that he'll be back soon. He needs to be feeling good and to be back to 100 percent. Kerem Demirbay only returned to training at the weekend. So we'll need to assess how he reacts to training. Ermin Bicakcic is now back again following a bout of pneumonia, but he probably won't be okay to play on Friday. Havard Nordtveit (editor's note: had a fever) could miss out as well."

The social media fan question of the week

What do you do before a match? Do you have a ritual?

"Basically, my analyst Benjamin Glück and I have had a ritual since we were at the U19s that we drink an energy drink before the match. We only switch to another drink following a defeat; as a result we've been drinking the same drink for some time. But in essence, the time before the game is about preparing the team and considering possible strategies."

The opposition's form:

Following a dip in the autumn, Niko Kovac's charges looked more stable as the first half of the season progressed and moved up to second place in the Bundesliga following a run of five successive wins.

Head-to-head record:

The two teams have previously meet on 21 occasions, with TSG only claiming two wins (D5 L14). However, Hoffenheim have won their previous two home games against Bayern Munich since Julian Nagelsmann was appointed as head coach.

Match facts and statistics »