Empty-handed against Freiburg

A disappointing day, as TSG Hoffenheim lost 3-1 (3-0) at home to SC Freiburg. Coach Sebastian Hoeness's side found themselves 3-0 down by half-time in the Baden derby, and were unable to mount a comeback in the second half, despite Ihlas Bebou's 58th minute goal. To make things worse, both Sebastian Rudy and Kevin Akpoguma had to come off injured.

Personnel & tactics:

Head coach Sebastian Hoeness made three changes to his starting line-up from the unfortunate cup defeat against Greuther Fürth. Kasim Adams, Diadie Samassékou and Ishak Belfodil all moved into the starting XI. The four-man defensive line in front of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was made up of Adams, Kevin Akpoguma, Kevin Vogt and Ryan Sessegnon. Samassékou lined up alongside Sebastian Rudy in defensive midfield. Ihlas Bebou, Andrej Kramarić and Christoph Baumgartner formed an attacking-midfield trio behind Belfodil at centre-forward. 

TSG were forced into their first change in the 12th minute: Rudy went down injured in the sequence of play leading to the opening goal, Melayro Bogarde came on to replace him. Just five minutes later, TSG again had to make an injury-enforced substitution: Akpoguma was unable to carry on, with Robert Skov coming on in his place. Bogarde shifted over to right-back, with Baumgartner moving over to defensive midfield and Skov slotting in on the left-wing. Hoeness opted for a double substitution in the 76th minute: on came Sargis Adamyan and Munas Dabbur to help with the attempted comeback, off came Samassékou and Belfodil.

Moment of the match:

Freiburg's third goal. What happened in the 42nd minute symbolised what was a rotten day for TSG: Demirovic's delivery from the right posed no threat, but the unfortunate Adams deflected the ball into his own net. 

Number of the game: 300

The 3-1 loss to SC Freiburg was Sebastian Rudy's 300th career appearance in the Bundesliga. 237 of them have come in a TSG Hoffenheim jersey. It proved a milestone to forget for the TSG record breaker: the 30-year-old suffered an injury in the build-up to the opening goal and had to be withdrawn from the field of play.  

Line-ups:

TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Akpoguma (17, Skov), Adams, Vogt, Sessegnon – Rudy (12, Bogarde), Samassékou (76, Adamyan) – Bebou, Kramarić, Baumgartner – Belfodil (76, Dabbur)

SC Freiburg: Müller – Lienhart, Schlotterbeck, Gulde – Schmid (46, Kübler), Santamaria (85, Abrashi), Höfler, Günter – Kwon (65, Petersen), Grifo (80, Sallai) – Demirovic (65, Höler)

Goals: 0-1 Santamaria (7), 0-2 Grifo (34, penalty after handball), 0-3 Adams (42, own goal), 1-3 Bebou (58)