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Hoffenheim striker Fisnik Asllani earned man-of-the-match honors in his team’s surprising win over favored Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon. Asllani and his club have gotten their 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign off to an excellent start. After barely escaping relegation last season, the Sinsheimers have toppled one of Germany’s Champions League representatives.
Hoffenheim – thanks to returning loanee Asllani and additions such as Asllani’s fellow goal-scorer Lemperle – are tipped by some to finish in the top four this season. Riding the tailwind of an undefeated pre-season and a convincing 0-4 away win over Hansa Rostock in the Pokal, head coach Christian Ilzer’s team have now not drawn or lost at all in their last ten (two official) matches.
Asllani counts as one of the key pillars lifting head coach Christian Ilzer’s squad. The 23-year-old scored a goal and registered an assist in last week’s Pokal win. On Saturday, he finally commemorated his first Bundesliga goal. The German-Kosovar made his professional debut for Hoffenheim in November 2021 at the age of 19. It took him nearly four years and two loan-outs to finally register a tally.
Asllani’s 2. Bundesliga campaign at SV Elversberg (18 goals scored for the Saarland outfit) rendered him one of the hottest commodities on this summer’s transfer market. Werder Bremen expended quite a bit of energy attempting to re-unite Asllani with former Elversberg head coach Horst Steffen.
The talented attacker ultimately opted to reject interest from elsewhere and extend with his current club. Speaking to Sky Germany after the opening day win, Asllani noted that he was elated with his decision to remain in Kraichgau.
“I’m extremely happy,” Asllani told Sky. “After two years away, coming back here and getting such a great win is a fantastic feeling. I’ve waited a very long time for this moment. Things didn’t take off straight away here, making today a dream come true for me and my family. Scoring my first Bundesliga goal makes me extremely proud.“
“Fisnik and I worked very hard today,” Lemperle added in his own Sky interview. “We were extremely diligent and received our just rewards. This reflects the hard work myself, Fisnik, and guys like [fellow striker] Max Moerstedt put in during training camp. He [Moerstedt] is also doing a fantastic job.”
Asllani also praised the team for overcoming an early 0-1 deficit to complete the comeback. The Rhein-Neckar club also shook off a potentially destabilizing injury to critical summer signings Wouter Burger and Koki Machida in the opening day upset victory. Burger and Machida were unable to contest the second half. Umut Tohumcu and Arthur Chaves were nevertheless able to immediately step in and step up.
“What a team performance!” Asllani said in his interview. “We really kept out feet on the gas pedal here. We were 0-1 down and two players got injured. We compensated well with new players and did it so very well. Even those who came in late [Kevin Akpoguma, Alexander Prass, and Grischa Prömel] were immediately involved. Huge compliments to the entire team for this game!“
GGFN | Peter Weis
