In the 2008/09 season, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim achieved something historic by winning the fall championship. What followed was the biggest fall from grace of a half-year champion ever. Remember?

It was almost like a fairy tale: in 2008, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim celebrated its promotion to the first Bundesliga football division. Within 17 years, the club had made it from the district league to the Bundesliga. A success for the club’s history.

On August 16, 2008, Hoffenheim celebrated their first victory in the first Bundesliga game in their history. They beat Energie Cottbus 3-0, which was the starting point for a remarkable first half of the season. However, as high as the flight may go, it will come to an end sooner or later. In the case of TSG, the end was brutal.

With the help of investments in the three-digit million range from the father of their success, patron Dietmar Hopp, TSG formed its team over the years. With new additions such as Luiz Gustavo, who had just turned 21, Andreas Beck and Wellington, the Sinsheim-based club put together a young and hungry team for its first season in the German top flight.

Modesty was not on Hopp’s agenda. He was already secretly dreaming of Europe. Successful coach Ralf Rangnick, who was to play a major role in the future success of TSG, wanted to calm things down: “We’re not dreaming of Europe yet. We’ll enjoy what we’ve achieved for a few days and then we’ll prepare for the new season with full concentration.” Unaware of what this season would have in store.

Who still remembers the magical triangle of the Sinsheim success story: Sejad Salihovic, Vedad Ibisevic and Demba Ba. Probably the key players of the first half of the season. The trio scored 48 (!) points after the first half of the season (Ibisevic 25, Salihovic 12 and Ba 11) and helped to achieve the big surprise. TSG went into the Bundesliga winter break as the autumn champions (35 points).

Hopp was euphoric after this stage victory: “I’m not saying we’ll be German champions. But we’ll be up there. We deserved to be autumn champions – it wasn’t that we achieved it with lucky wins. We are a force to be reckoned with.”

With Ibisevic’s cruciate ligament rupture on January 15, 2009, the top striker’s season was over – the start of a horror second half of the season for Hoffenheim.

In the second half of the Bundesliga season, TSG only managed to get 20 points from 17 games and finished seventh in the season that turned from a fairy tale into a nightmare. In the end, they didn’t even qualify for a European competition – nobody can beat this result. The worst autumn champions in the history of the Bundesliga are TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Remember?