FIRST TEAM
02/04/2020

"We've showed that we can beat big opponents"

Will the quarter-final dream come true when TSG Hoffenheim visit Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday evening (20:45 CET/Live Ticker at achtzehn99.de)? The Kraichgau club have not been in the last eight of the competition since 2015. In the run-up to the match in Munich, head coach Alfred Schreuder spoke about the personnel situation, Hansi Flick and FC Bayern.

Alfred Schreuder on…

…the personnel situation: "It is not yet clear whether Sargis Adamyan can play. But it's better than we expected. Fortunately, he hasn't broken anything in his ankle. We'll decide early tomorrow whether it is possible. The others have recovered well and are fit. There are no new injuries. Jacob Bruun Larsen will probably be in the squad. As for Oliver Baumann, things are going very well. Freiburg could still be too soon for him."

…Bayern coach Hansi Flick: "The cooperation with Hansi Flick was very good back in his Hoffenheim days. We had a super relationship. I still had contact with him while at Ajax. I'm absolutely delighted for him. He's doing outstanding work in Munich. They're playing very well and with huge desire. That's down to him. He knows how a top club ticks."

…the opposition: "Bayern now play more quickly than they did under Kovac. They play higher up the pitch. The team has different energy. They've won six matches on the bounce and are in very good form. We know how strong Bayern are. Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Leon Goretzka are currently in very good form. I'm expecting Serge Gnabry to play. We all know how good he is."

…the approach to the match: "We need to play exactly as we did in the first league meeting. But that won't be easy it wasn't back then either. We want to show courage and have the ball. If we don't, we'll just be defending. Then there'll be lots of chances for Bayern. We need to defend as a unit. They've recently played very well against teams who defend high up the pitch. We need to be prepared for that. We've showed we can beat big opponents."

The social media question of the week:

Will Philipp Pentke play against Bayern Munich or will there be another switch of goalkeeper in the cup so as to give Michael Esser his debut?

"Philipp Pentke will be in goal tomorrow. He's earned that."

The opposition's form:

The match on Wednesday is between the two most in-form teams in the league. Bayern Munich have won each of their past six Bundesliga matches and returned to the top of the table at the weekend. Hoffenheim, meanwhile, have won four of their last five fixtures and have the second-strongest record (behind FCB) during that time with 12 points out of a possible 15.

Head-to-head record:

TSG had never won away to FC Bayern before 5 October last year, but their 2-1 victory in the Bundesliga that day ended their winless streak at the Allianz Arena. Although Hoffenheim have won only three of their 23 matches against the German record champions there have been 15 defeats and five draws too their recent record is much more respectable with three wins from the last six meetings.

 

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