SAndré Breitenreiter scored his first Bundesliga goal on September 17, 1994 at the age of 20 for Hamburger SV in his first Bundesliga game in a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in Munich. In HSV’s 2-1 home win against the German record champions the following season, he scored again on February 11, 1996 against Munich. In 2001, in his first division farewell season as a player with the Unterhaching game association, which was relegated at the time, he won 1-0 against the big neighbors and was substituted on late.
If you talk to the current coach of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, he remembers “one or two wins” that he celebrated as a professional against Bayern, rather casually.
The 49-year-old from Lower Saxony, who loves football regardless of class, has long since dedicated himself to the second major vocation that his sport offers: the coaching profession. Breitenreiter, who led SC Paderborn into the Bundesliga for the first time in 2014 and was relegated again a year later with Ostwestfalen, qualified for the Europa League with FC Schalke 04 in fifth place in the Bundesliga in 2016 and then had to leave anyway, in 2017 with his home club Hannover 96 returned to the Bundesliga and was released in January 2019 after a string of defeats, is now back at home in the German elite division in the employ of TSG Hoffenheim.
Returned after a triumphant season with FC Zurich in the Swiss Super League, crowned with the league title. He has navigated the North Baden team pretty well through the season so far and, for the moment, has led them to fourth place in the Champions League qualification. This Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) he could achieve his first small masterpiece in the Sinsheim Arena: his first full success as a coach in a duel with the series champions Bayern Munich. His club has managed this feat four times since they were promoted to the first division in 2008.
Breitenreiter has long been a seeker
The visit of the current table runners-up, led by former TSG coach Julian Nagelsmann, will certainly not tempt Breitenreiter to once again thank the Munich team for their visit as sincerely as he did after the 6-0 home defeat with Paderborn on February 21, 2015. when he said too deferentially to his great colleague Pep Guardiola: “Thank you for the great experience.”
Breitenreiter has long been one of the experienced trainers who have a recognizable self-confidence. Also because he remained loyal to football at the end of his playing career as a selfless grassroots worker: at premier league and regional league clubs such as SC Langenhagen, Hessen Kassel, then Holstein Kiel, BV Cloppenburg and finally TSV Havelse.
He has also worked on other fields of his sport. For example, when he observed the North German opponents for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who played in the second Bundesliga between 2006 and 2010, with the analytical eye of an expert. Breitenreiter co-managed the Hannover 96 football school for a while and ran a sports agency based in Frankfurt, supporting professionals in their career planning.
