TSG kick off the 2025 calendar year

There wasn't much time for a breather: Following the Christmas period and the turn of the year, TSG Hoffenheim immediately returned to training on Thursday. The conditions were cold and wet as head coach Christian Ilzer took to the training ground with his team for the first time in 2025. Apart from long-term injury absentees Grischa Prömel, Ozan Kabak, Ihlas Bebou, Christopher Lenz and Marius Bülter, all first-team players were involved – including Max Moerstedt, who was already back training with the group after suffering an injury shortly before Christmas. Erencan Yardimci, who was back at TSG following the premature end of his loan spell in Graz, was involved for the first time too.

Prior to the session, the head coach gave a speech to his team. "We have to be absolutely aware of the current situation," said Christian Ilzer, adding: "We have to use every minute to embrace and improve upon this situation without losing the necessary composure."

Further training sessions in Zuzenhausen are scheduled to take place this week on Friday (13:15 CET), Saturday (12:00 CET) and Sunday (11:30 CET), before a behind-closed-doors friendly fixture against FC Augsburg takes place on Monday (6 January). The Bundesliga campaign will resume with a home game against VfL Wolfsburg on 11 January (Saturday at 15:30 CET). In total, TSG will contest six competitive matches in January.