Before the match against Cottbus, Hoffenheim was still looking for a striker. They contacted Danish talented scorer Nicklas_bendtner who couldn't play at Arsenal. Arsenal agreed, but Bentner refused. In his opinion, transferring from giants Arsenal to Germany's country team Hoffenheim was not a good idea. He would rather stay at Arsenal and wait for opportunities under the competition of robin_van_persie, emmanuel_adebayor, and Mexican genius Carlos_vela, who is younger than him and more talented than him, and Eduardo, the "Fox of the Boundary Zone" is also a young and talented Mexican genius Carlos_vela and Eduardo.

Rangnick felt very sorry for not winning Bentner. In his opinion, Bentner would have no chance to stay in Arsenal. In addition, Arsenal bought andrey_arshavin, which is complete bad news for Bentner. The former Danish talented shooter could only spend his time on the bench, making more than a dozen appearances in a season and scoring a few goals.

Without signing Bentner, it is very close to the closure of the transfer market. Hoffenheim can only tap potential internally. Do you remember the young shooter Marco Trazino (marco_terrazzino) who scored the winning goal at the last moment against Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray in the summer warm-up match, and helped the team reverse the victory? At the age of seventeen, he was promoted to the first team, replacing the injured Wellington and becoming the team's fourth striker.

At the same time, the team also loaned the Ivory Coast striker Boubacar_sanogo from Bremen. The 26-year-old Ivorian transferred to Werder Bremen for 4.5 million euros in the summer of 2007. He made a total of 43 appearances, scored 16 goals and assisted eight times. However, with Bremen buying Pizarro this season, Sanogo lost his position. He only played eight times in the Bundesliga this season and scored one goal. Sanogo, who was eager to get a chance to play, and Hoffenheim, who wanted to consolidate his forward strength, hit it off. Hoffenheim paid 1.2 million euros and won the right of first refusal while loaning Sanogo for half a season.

Sanogo and the team practiced together for three days before they ushered in their first game on the new stadium.

Hoffenheim faces Cottbus at home.

※※Because in the 18th round of the first game yesterday, Bayern Munich lost to Hamburg 0:1 away, the current gap between the two teams is a three-pointer in the case of Bayern Munich's extra round. As long as Hoffenheim can defeat Cottbus at home, he can pull Bayern Munich down six points in the standings.

This news made Hoffenheim players very motivated.

In this game, Rangnick ranked the strongest lineup he could send: the goalkeeper was the former national goalkeeper Hildebran who joined the team, the center back was Comper and Yaisler, the right back was Baker, the left back was Pogattz who joined the team, and the midfielder was Chu Zhongtian, the left forward was Salihovic, and the right forward was Weiss. The three forwards were Demba Ba, Ibisevic and Sanogo from left to right.

Several players who joined the team during the winter break started. Sanogo replaced Obasi with a muscle strain.

As for Cottbus, Chinese player Shao Jiayi was absent due to a cold, and two teammates in the national team missed the opportunity to directly confront each other on the court. Shao Jiayi's life in Cottbus was not satisfactory, and he didn't know if they would have the chance to fight next time the two teams met.

Like the first half of the season, Hoffenheim launched a fierce offensive against Cottbus' goal at the beginning, striving to break through the opponent's goal as soon as possible. Hoffenheim is good at playing a tailwind. As long as they score the first goal, they will remain unbeaten - they originally won all, but it was ended by Bayern Munich. Now, it sounds quite nice to say that "unbeaten" is "very good".

In the 20th minute, Hoffenheim scored the first goal as he wished. Salihovic took a corner kick, Pogattz headed the ball at 1.88 meters in front, Demba Ba received the ball from the back, and scored under the defense of two Kotbus players, 1:0!

"Demba.Ba!Ba! He scored Hoffenheim's first Bundesliga goal at the Rhine-Neka Stadium! Before this goal, Hoffenheim shot four consecutively! In the absence of Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim's team was full of fighting spirit. It seems that Kottbus couldn't stop the team from moving forward!"

The Rhine Neka Stadium, which can accommodate 30,000 people, burst into cheers after Demba Ba scored a goal. The whole stands became a blue ocean, with Hoffenheim's flag flying. The fans held Hoffenheim's blue scarf with both hands, and they were singing Hoffenheim's team songs.

After seeing this scene, the commentator sighed: "It's hard to imagine that this village with only 3,000 people can attract so many fans. Like Gelsenkirchen, which is also a 'phenomenon' in the Bundesliga!"

Gelsenkirchen is a city in the famous industrial zone of Ruhr, Germany. It has developed cities with mines and declined due to mines. It has a small population, less than 300,000 people, which is not as large as Mannheim. This city does not have large urban areas like those big cities. It is composed of many separate villages and mining areas expanded and connected, resulting in an obvious urban plot. One of the most famous districts of this city is Schalke. Here is a famous Bundesliga powerhouse Schalke 04. Gelsenkirchen has cultivated a seven-game Bundesliga championship with an environment of less than 300,000 people and has won a strong team that has won the UEFA Cup.

Hoffenheim also has such potential now. Although there are few people in Hoffenheim and Sinsheim City has only more than 30,000 people, looking at the attendance rate of Rhine Neka Stadium, you will know that they are not short of fans at all. As long as the team plays well and wins, this newly built stadium may have to be expanded in a few years.

Half a minute later, Hoffenheim broke the goal of Cotbus again. The person who scored this time was Ibisevic, and the person who assisted him was Chu Zhongtian.

"Wow! Ibi! Super Ibi! This is his 21st goal this season! His goal rhythm has not been worn out by the winter break that lasts more than a month!"

Seeing Ibissevic scored another goal, both the commentator and the fans in the stands were very excited. What does this mean? This shows that Ibissevic is still in good shape, and as long as he can score, the team can win.

Dietma Hope stood up from his seat after Ibisek scored, raising his arms to cheer. Beckenbauer, who was sitting next to him, shook his head secretly.

Ibisevic is in good shape and Hoffenheim is in good shape, which means that Bayern Munich will be under greater pressure.

Yesterday, Klinsmann's Bayern lost again, which made Beckenbauer not in a good mood. He was invited by his old friend Hope to watch this game, but as Hoffenheim's direct competitor, he felt uncomfortable in this game.

If Hoffenheim doesn't score a goal, he will worry about his team.

In the second half, Sanogo, who joined the team, wasted several opportunities and finally seized the opportunity. He received a wonderful pass from Ibisevic's heel and scored a goal, freezing the score at 3:0.

Seeing that Hoffenheim was already in the victory, Beckenbauer greeted Hope and left first.

Hope didn't take it seriously, his attention was still on the court. Seeing the team he built plays so beautifully, he, the old man, feels very happy.

In the end, Hoffenheim defeated Cottbus three goals at home and led the Bundesliga standings with a six-point advantage. Sanogo scored in the game, and Pogattz assisted. The only unlucky person was goalkeeper Hildebran, who was injured when saving a narrow goal in the 51st minute of the game. Later, he was replaced by Haas by Rangnick. This was the first time he was replaced in the middle of 222 Bundesliga games.

After the game, Hope was satisfied with the team's performance. This offensive football made everyone feel good. However, Rangnick announced at a press conference that he would continue to strengthen his defense. The pressure to lead the Bundesliga made Rangnick have to consider a little more utilitarian...※※ "Hoffenheim's condition is surprisingly good! It seems that the winter break has not affected them at all!"

"Cottbus is really too weak. They can't stop Hoffenheim's fierce offensive at all. It's not surprising that he lost three goals. It seems that if he wants to block this crazy team, Mönchengladbach may not be able to. The test of the team is in the next four rounds of the league..."

After the game, the media expressed their opinions, some Chen Pian and some questioned. Since Chu Zhongtian shouted the slogan of "winning the championship" at the German annual award ceremony, more people have looked at them with magnifying glasses. As long as there is a slight mistake, what is waiting for them is criticism.

But this is quite normal. This is the price that a champion team must pay. There has never been a champion team that does not have to bear pressure or face difficulties. Why are the wealthy families rich? Because they are used to various scenes and have accumulated rich experience. These experiences have gradually been transformed and accumulated over the long river of history and have become the so-called "wealthy family background".

Hoffenheim is now going through the first step of accumulation. Learning to face the pressure brought by the media and fans is their only way to become the strong.

The young Hoffenheim was still a little tender. Next, in the Bundesliga match on February 7, they were tied 1:1 by Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Although Hoffenheim played away in this game, he still took the stance of a strong attack from the beginning, while Mönchengladbach defended and counterattacked. This is also a situation that Hoffenheim will often encounter in the game in the future - their offense has already made everyone realize the excellence, so a clever way is to avoid their edge and not confront them head-on. Defensive counterattack is the most effective weapon to break off offensive football. On the other hand, how to break the opponent's defensive counterattack is something Hoffenheim must master, otherwise they can only become a qualified disruptor at most and cannot become a champion.

Before this game, Hoffenheim's Baker and Weiss were selected for the national team's roster, among which Baker was selected for the first time. So in this game, the national team coach Loew also came to the scene to inspect Hoffenheim's new international.

Perhaps he was eager to show himself in front of the national team head coach. Baker was very active in the offense in this game, and sometimes he even didn't come back to defend if he attacked. He thought it wasted time and energy like this. What if he ran back to participate in the defense but missed a beautiful counterattack from the team?

But his approach has caused hidden dangers to the team's defense.

In the first half, Hoffenheim besieged Borussia Mönchengladbach but could not score the goal. Chu Zhongtian tried several long shots. Unfortunately, Borussia Mönchengladbach's Belgian goalkeeper Bailly (logan_bailly) was in a very brave state today, and he resisted the high contact and saved many threatening attacks from Hoffenheim. The commentator said that the best player in the first half was the goalkeeper who was only 22 years old.

If you can't attack for a long time, there will inevitably be loopholes in the defense line. In the 44th minute, Borussia Mönchengladbach seized an opportunity to counterattack, and it was from Baker's side to send the football to the front. Tomas_galasek passed directly in the backcourt, and the football passed from the corridor guarded by Baker to the front. Alexander_baumjohann (alexander_baumjohann) received the ball and cut inward and broke through. However, Hoffenheim's central defender Comper did not follow the ball as soon as the opponent got the ball, allowing Baum John to calmly shoot, and the football flew into the goal guarded by Haas.

After Hildebran was injured in the last game, Haas replaced him. Hildebran was diagnosed with a pubic contusion, so Haas was still the starter in this game. However, Haas was powerless to do anything about Baum John's shot, and could only watch the football flew into the goal from behind him.

Baum John is a famous game monster in the famous football game FM series. He has announced that he will join Bayern Munich this summer. If his goal can really help the team beat Hoffenheim at home, it will be the best "seller"... Borussia Mönchengladbach, ranked last in the Bundesliga, actually led Hoffenheim, the first in the league, at home.

This match between the Bundesliga champion and runner-up last season, and the competition between the Bundesliga chief and deputy squad leader this season was actually the "deputy squad leader" Borussia Mönchengladbach led the lead to the end of the first half!

For a moment, the Heprus Park Stadium, home court, was thunderous. Forty thousand Moorchengladbach fans shouted wildly to cheer for their team. It was really good to be able to lead the league leader in the game!

"Monchengladbach, who was passively beaten throughout the first half, scored a goal in a counterattack before the end of the first half. This was just their third shot! It seems that Hoffenheim was in big trouble away! As the league leader, they are going to fall here!"

The narrator shouted.

The fans at the scene shouted: "The league leader was also under our control last season! Hoffenheim is just a German second-tier team!"

When the game ended, Hoffenheim players all seemed a little dejected, while Mönchengladbach players ran back quickly, and they seemed to be full of fighting spirit.

During the halftime break, Rangnick severely criticized Baker's poor performance in the first half.

"Forget that damn national team's first show, Baker! If you perform badly in this game, Loew won't give you a minute to play!"

After the start of the second half, Baker paid attention, but the team's performance did not improve. The leading Mönchengladbach became more and more confident. Chu Zhongtian was surrounded by two and three players in the opponent's midfield. He could only shoot quickly. If the speed was too fast, the mistakes naturally increased. In addition, Mönchengladbach also learned some lessons from Schalke 04 and Cottbus. Schalke 04 used foul tactics to prevent Hoffenheim from playing the smooth attack they were good at, so Hoffenheim was very difficult to win, while Cottbus was too polite, so Hoffenheim won 3:0 without hesitation.

In this game, Mönchengladbach also made many fouls, and Chu Zhongtian was repeatedly violated by the opponent. At first, he insisted on not falling to the ground. After three consecutive pushes and kicks, he still controlled the football and passed the ball to his teammates who were inserted.

Later, Borussia Mönchengladbach increased its foul efforts, and this time he finally pushed Chu Zhongtian down, so they were awarded a free kick. Salihovic's direct free kick was above the crossbar.

Then Rangnick replaced Sanogo with Obasi. Hoffenheim's terrifying attack line in the first half of the season was finally here.

Obasi had a thigh muscle strain before and had just recovered from an injury. For the purpose of protecting the players, Rangnick did not let him start.

After Obasi took the field, his cooperation with the midfielder was more tacit than Sanogo, and the team's offense finally had a structure and improvement.

Chu Zhongtian passed O'Basi directly in the 67th minute. O'Basi tripped by Garasek when he broke into the penalty area, but the referee ordered O'Basi to fall and gave him a yellow card.

Seeing that Hoffenheim's offensive became more and more prosperous, Borussia Mönchengladbach's head coach Hans Meyer replaced Baum John, and Dutch central defender Roel_brouwers when he replaced him. The intention of this substitution is obvious - strengthening the defense. For Borussia Mönchengladbach, being able to defeat Hoffenheim 1-0 at home is the biggest victory. They are not Dietmar Hope, and they always want to see a lot of big wins with goals. 10:0 and 1:0 are the same for them, both are three-pointers. Points are more important than anything else on the road to relegation.

When the opponent defended his life, Rangnick sent the forward to strengthen the offense. Eduardo was suspended from the game due to accumulating yellow cards, so he could not play in this game. Otherwise, he would not only send the forward to the game. He added an additional midfielder and played 442 instead, and the effect might be better.

Rangnick replaced Weiss with the seventeen-year-old young player Tracino, and the formation turned into 424. Four forwards rushed to Borussia Mönchengladbach's defense. In the end, in the 89th minute, Hoffenheim's unremitting efforts received a reward. Salihovic took a free kick and Chu Zhongtian headed the ball!

The football hit the post and bounced back, and then Demba, who followed up, knocked the football into the goal!

"Oh oh oh oh oh!! The ball is in! The ball is in! Hoffenheim equalized the score! They tied the score 1:1 in the 89th minute! Avoid a failure! Look at their excited hugs and you will know how difficult this draw is!"

Yes, it's not easy.

As the last "deputy squad leader" in the league, it is not easy for Mönchengladbach to force Hoffenheim, the top player in the league, to be like this. It is also unlucky to not win the game in the end - people are always used to sympathizing with the weak and supporting the weak. In the first half of the season, when facing Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim was such a weak person. Now they have quietly become strong and their opponents have received more support.

Hoffenheim equalized the score with Denba Ba's goal and scored one point away. And Borussia Mönchengladbach tied Hoffenheim, an upset emerged.

This made the media feel like they were jealous, thinking that they had seen the signs of Hoffenheim's collapse in the second half of the season - "They have been thoroughly studied. Even a team like Borussia Mönchengladbach can allow Hoffenheim to siege for 89 minutes before conceding a goal. If it is replaced by a stronger team, such as Hamburg, Hertha Berlin, and... Bayern Munich?"

(To be continued)
Chapter completed!