Hoeness wants to ‘annoy’ his old club Bayern

Berlin – As the architect of Bayern Munich’s single defeat in 2020, Hoffenheim coach Sebastian Hoeness (above) hopes to again down the European champions in the Bundesliga today when he returns to his former club.

Bayern host mid-table Hoffenheim at the Allianz Arena seeking revenge for September’s 4-1 league defeat – their only loss of 2020 in any competition.

The shock win over the European champions “will certainly still be in our heads”, admitted Hoeness, “but we want to use this game to annoy Bayern again”.

Bayern hold a seven-point lead in the table and are near full-strength with only Corentin Tolisso and Tanguy Nianzou sidelined.

After poor results around Christmas, Hoffenheim are back up to 11th thanks to back-to-back 3-0 wins against strugglers Hertha Berlin and Cologne.

However, the European champions are a huge test for Hoffenheim on Hoeness’ return to Munich, where the 38-year-old coached the reserves last season, having previously worked with Bayern’s junior teams.

A key factor Saturday (today) is the form of Hoffenheim striker Andrej Kramaric, who has scored twice in each of his last two games.

Leading the pack chasing Bayern, RB Leipzig host Bayer Leverkusen tonight with both clubs eager to bounce back from defeats.

After crashing 3-2 at second-from-bottom Mainz, Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann compared Bayern to Germany’s highspeed ICE trains and his team to a regional train, struggling to “catch up”.

In order to get back on track, Leipzig must beat third-placed Leverkusen, who trail them by three points.

“The game has no direct influence on the title race – it’s all about qualifying for the Champions League,” Nagelsmann insisted.

Leipzig Are still without playmaker Emil Forsberg with a knee knock.

Leverkusen, who crashed at home to Wolfsburg last weekend, are missing midfielders Julian Baumgartlinger, who underwent knee surgery on Monday, and Nadiem Amiri is quarantined after testing positive for Covid-19.

Having slipped out of the European places to seventh, Dortmund host Augsburg today, chasing a first win in four games. –