TSG Hoffenheim has slipped down to 16th place, and the change of coach has had no effect so far. A particular negative record could be broken on Saturday in Mainz.
When does he get the first point? Pellegrino Matarazzo.
IMAGO/Michael Weber
Pellegrino Matarazzo knew it wasn’t going to be easy. “The situation is undoubtedly challenging,” said the coach during his inaugural speech on February 8. But: “I’m convinced of the quality of the team and approach the task with enthusiasm and great confidence.”
Has the confidence given up in the meantime? In any case, Matarazzo was the first Hoffenheim coach to lose all of his first three games, most recently 1-0 against Borussia Dortmund. In the last six years (since the beginning of 2017) there was only one other coach who lost his first three games: Markus Weinzierl 2018/19 at VfB Stuttgart, the Swabians were relegated at the end of the season.
But Matarazzo also took over a team that had previously lacked confidence. Hoffenheim’s twelve games in a row without a win are a club record (previously from matchday 19 to 30 in 2008/09). Should TSG not win again in Mainz on Saturday, there would be a new negative mark in the club’s CV.
The team collected two points in these games, but nothing works anymore. The Kraichgau lost five league matches in a row, only once before has there been a losing streak of at least this length within a season: from the 12th to the 17th matchday in 2012/13. At that time, Hoffenheim even conceded six defeats in a row. In terms of competitive games, TSG has already reached the mark, after all they also lost the round of 16 in the DFB Cup against RB Leipzig 1: 3.
By the way, Hoffenheim is only the tenth team in Bundesliga history to start the second half of the season with five defeats – Seven of the previous nine were relegated (Borussia Neunkirchen 1965/66, Hanover 1985/86, Stuttgarter Kickers 1988/89, FC Homburg 1989/90, SC Freiburg 1996/97, Hertha BSC 2011/12 and again Hanover 2015/16) , two just kept the class (Hannover 2009/10 and VfB Stuttgart 2013/14).
Another fact shows how bleak the second half of the season is for Hoffenheim: Hoffenheim is the only team not to have a single minute of the lead in the second half of the season.
