After fighting against relegation during the 2024/2025 season, Hoffenheim have skyrocketed up the Bundesliga table.
They currently sit in third place with 42 points and a +20 goal differential, when they finished last season with only 32 points total.
It’s been one of the best turnarounds in European football this season, orchestrated by 48-year-old Christian Ilzer.
Ilzer has spent most of his career managing in Austria, starting at TSV Hartberg, then at Wolfsberger, and later at Austria Vienna.
In 2020, he took the job at Sturm Graz and built them into a powerhouse in Austria, eventually winning the league title in 2023/2024, ending Red Bull Salzburg’s 10-year run as champions.
In November 2024, he left Sturm Graz to accept the Hoffenheim job, leaving him in a very difficult situation.
In his 24 matches in charge, Hoffenheim had a record of 5-8-11 and conceded the second-most goals (49) during that time span.
This summer, there was a significant investment made in the squad, as Hoffenheim spent €79.5m on a number of different players, with much of that investment paying off.
They are currently three points ahead of RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart.
They will need to maintain their impressive form to secure Champions League football for the second time in the club’s history.
Hoffenheim is an interesting story because they only recently made it to the top flight in 2008, after spending most of their history in the lower leagues.
In this tactical analysis, we will take a look at Ilzer’s tactical flexibility, which has made Hoffenheim difficult to play against, along with their relentless high pressing, the key players in their ascent up the table and some data points that suggest a possible negative regression.
Christian Ilzer Tactical Flexibility
Last season, Ilzer varied between a 3-4-3 and a 4-2-3-1 for the entire season.
This season, he’s been all over the place using a bunch of different formations based on the opponent they are facing.
As you can see, he hasn’t used one formation more than 25% of the time, which really makes Hoffenheim difficult to prepare for.
When they play in a 4-4-2, they typically build up in a 4-2-4 with the two midfielders staggered, while the full-backs stay really wide along the touchline to stretch the opposition.
This often creates space down the wide areas for Hoffenheim because teams do not want them playing through the middle, which leads to them sending in a lot of crosses to the box.
Ilzer loves the concept of overload to isolate.
By overloading one side of the pitch, they can switch the ball to the opposite side, where they have a 2v1 against the opposing full-back.
Former West Ham full-back Vladimír Coufal has become a key player in their system, pushing forward down the right-hand side of the pitch to supply balls into the box.
Once Hoffenheim do switch the ball to the opposite side, they pile their forwards into the box to try and win aerial duels against the opposing full-backs or make late runs like this for cut-backs.
Then, the few times he’s gone back to the 3-4-2-1 they used towards the end of last season, their build-up changes to almost a 2-3-5, with two forwards dropping into the half-space.
Here against Frankfurt, Coufal inverted more into the midfield, which pushed left wing-back Alexander Prass further up the pitch.
He drops in to receive the ball, while Wouter Burger beats his man in behind to deliver a perfect cross to Max Moerstedt for a goal.
It’s this variability that has made it not only difficult to press them but also to defend them in the final third.
Christian Ilzer High Press
Hoffenheim are maybe the best pressing team across Europe this season in terms of forcing their opposition into losing it in dangerous areas.
Per markstats.club Hoffenheim are averaging 32.1 danger-zone losses per 90 minutes, the highest rate not just in the Bundesliga but across Europe’s top five leagues.
They also lead the Bundesliga with a PPDA of 9.8 and have forced 174 high turnovers.
What makes them so effective is not necessarily their high press from goal kick situations, but their counterpressing when they lose the ball.
They work tirelessly and are incredibly quick to win it back once they lose in the final third to hit opponents quickly in transition opportunities.
Take this example from their 1-0 win against Leverkusen.
Hoffenheim go long from a goal kick and eventually lose the ball, but have four guys not only surrounding the ball, but also taking away any short pass lanes.
They force the turnover and are able to play a quick ball in behind that eventually leads to a pretty dangerous cross into the box.
From goal kick situations, they will start out in their 4-4-2, making sure any easy passes through the centre are taken away.
Once the ball goes wide, they jump into a man-to-man press to try and pin the opposition to the touchline.
While the press has been effective at turning opponents over, Hoffenheim has been exposed on the break once the press is broken, which is the high-risk nature of being so aggressive.
They have allowed 26 fastbreak shots, which is the second most in the Bundesliga behind only Mainz.
However, what is clear for Ilzer right now is that the reward far outweighs the risk for Hoffenheim.
Hoffenheim Key Players
Hoffenheim have a wonderful mixture of youth and experience throughout the squad.
They made a couple of moves this summer to bring in some young talent, with one of them being Fisnik Asllani from second-tier side Elversberg, where he scored 18 goals.
Asllani has scored six goals, leads the team in expected goals and has put up some really impressive numbers.
Fisnik Asllani Radar Chart 2025/26
His transfer value is currently €30m, per Transfermarkt.
Bazoumana Touré is only 19 years old and comes from Hammarby IF in the Swedish Allsvenskan, having been signed for €10m.
He’s a pure dribbler out on the left wing, hugging the touchline and creating a ton of chances for his teammates.
He is tied for the team lead with four open-play assists and, more importantly, has 18 successful open-play crosses, which is second most in the Bundesliga.
His transfer value on Transfermarkt right now is up to €25m.
Leon Avdullahu is everywhere in the middle of the pitch and really has been a key cog in Hoffenheim’s improvement defensively.
Leon Avdullahu Heat Map At Hoffenheim 2025/2026
He’s won possession for his team 105 times this season, which is the third-highest mark in the Bundesliga.
Of course, how could I forget club legend Andrej Kramarić, who is still producing at 34, with six goals and four assists this season.
Negative Regression Coming?
While Hoffenheim’s meteoric rise has been impressive, they have significantly outperformed their underlying metrics.
Offensively, they have scored 40 goals from 30.1 expected goals.
Hoffenheim have only suffered one defeat since October 19th, 2025, which came against Borussia Dortmund.
Since October 19th, they have picked up 32 points and have a +21 goal differential in 13 matches.
However, they only have a +7.3 expected goal differential and 22.9 expected points during that time frame.
There is some major negative regression coming over the second half of the season because they simply cannot keep up this level of overperformance offensively.
Conclusion
If you dive a little deeper into Hoffenheim’s numbers, you’ll find that one of the main reasons they’ve been successful this season is that they are incredible front-runners.
When playing with a lead, Hoffenheim average 2.27 expected goals per 90 minutes, but that drops to 1.31 when they are playing from an even game state.
Their press has been incredible this season and has been the main catalyst in their rise up the table.
The key additions made this summer, and Ilzer’s high-risk tactics have completely paid off, up until this point.
Hoffenheim are a great story, but they need to keep up this insane level of overperformance if they want to hold off the chasing pack behind them.
They have a pretty favourable schedule coming up outside of a road trip to Bayern Munich, so they will need to continue to pick up points to stay in the top four.
Opta currently has them projected at 64% to finish in the top four, which would be an incredible story, given they were on the brink of relegation.
