Hoffenheim’s rise has been phenomenal this season. It is in the second place, just a point behind Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Over to Karthik Krishnaswamy, who closely follows the European leagues.
Two weeks ago, Bayern Munich and Juventus vied for the part of the woe-stricken, deposed monarch — the one with the dirty-white beard that fails to conceal sallow, sunken cheeks — in Europe’s footballing theatre and slumped to 11th place in their respective leagues. Contrasting results for the clubs now leave Juve front-runners to deliver the pathos-laden soliloquies.
Bayern remains in 11th in the Bundesliga, despite a 1-0 win at Karlsruher sealed by an 86th minute Miroslav Klose goal. The Bavarian side sits five points behind Hamburg — which drew 1-1 against Schalke — in first place after eight games. Just a point behind Hamburg, second-placed TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s rise has been the season’s top story.
Two season’s ago, Hoffenheim was playing in Regionalliga Süd (South Region) of the (then) German third-tier. After Ralf Rangnick was appointed manager in 2006, Hoffenheim hit escape velocity, with promotion to Bundesliga’s second division in 2007-08 immediately followed by promotion to the top tier this season.
Rangnick has set his side up in an almost wantonly aggressive manner in this campaign, in either a 4-3-1-2 with a playmaker in the hole or a 4-3-3, and Hoffenheim has responded with 21 goals in eight games so far, with 24-year-old Bosnian striker Vedad Ibiif leading the league’s scoring charts with nine. His French-born Senegalese strike partner Demba Ba — lately employed alongside Ibiseviae and Nigerian Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke in a front three — has been no less impressive, with five. All three scored twice — in Hoffenheim’s latest result, a 5-2 away win at Hanover.
Meanwhile, Juventus slumped to 12th in Serie A with a second straight league defeat, and a fourth win-less result in a row, losing 2-1 at Napoli, which moved to fourth — tied on points with second and third-placed Udinese and Catania. Those three clubs are just two points behind Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, which stormed to a 4-0 away win over Roma — last season’s second place, 14th after that result — with Zlatan Ibrahimovic netting twice. Ronaldinho scored two to push AC Milan into sixth — fifth to eighth places are tied on 13 points, three behind Inter — with a 3-0 win against Sampdoria.
The top of the table is just as tight in La Liga, where Atletico Madrid stumbled to its third defeat in a row, at home in the Madrid derby. In an action-packed game at the Vicente Calderón, where each side had a man sent off, Real Madrid finally emerged 2-1 victors with a Gonzalo Higuain penalty deep into injury time. Atletico had equalised via a Simao Sabrossa free kick in the 89th minute, roughly 88 minutes after Ruud van Nistelrooy had put Real ahead.
Valencia moved two points clear of Villareal and Sevilla at the top of the table, with a 4-0 win over bottom-placed Numancia, with two goals from — surprise, surprise — David Villa. Villareal — which played out a goalless draw at Espanol — and Sevilla — 1-0 winner at Almeria — have 17 points each from seven games, while a point below them are Barcelona — for whom Samuel Eto’o thumped in a showpiece left-footed volley in a 1-0 result at Bilbao — and Real Madrid; just three points separate fifth from first. Bordeaux moved to joint third in France’s Ligue 1 with a 2-1 derby win over Toulose, thanks to an inspired performance from playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, on loan from AC Milan. The 22-year-old, before nodding on for former Manchester United forward David Bellion to net Bordeaux’s second, scored a sensational first goal.
After a bout of pinball-style defending from Toulose, the ball popped to Gourcuff, who had his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area, with two defenders closing in from behind. Spectators who blinked at this point would have opened their eyes to find him slotting the ball past the tumbling Toulose keeper Cédric Carrasso from just outside the six-yard box. Perhaps only halfway into the celebration would Gourcuff himself have realised what had transpired, for the speed of foot — a drag with the sole and a flick of heel on the turn — that spun him between the defenders and into the box, seemingly left no time for thought.
Bordeaux are fourth, tied with third-placed Le Mans with 17 points in nine games, two points behind second-placed Marseille — which won 3-1 at Valenciennes — and three behind lumbering league leader Lyon — which followed the 3-0 away defeat to Rennes before the international break with a 2-2 draw against Lille at home.
Round-up up to October 24
Comments
SHARE