#TSGKSV: Kiel’s debut and a good omen

Did you know that…

…Kiel are a special debutant?

Holstein Kiel are not only the 58th club to contest a Bundesliga match, but also the first team from Schleswig-Holstein to reach the top flight. But only two of the last 12 Bundesliga newcomers have won their debut at German football’s top table: FC Ingolstadt in 2015/16 and TSG Hoffenheim in 2008/09.

…Kiel were promoted thanks to their strong away form?

Holstein Kiel were the best away team in the second division last season, amassing 39 points. This was also a record in a single-tier second division with 18 teams, as were the Storks’ 12 away victories. Kiel won each of their last five away matches in the 2023/24 season.

…TSG have been waiting a long time for a clean sheet in Sinsheim?

TSG Hoffenheim have won three of their last four Bundesliga home matches (one draw) – that’s as many victories as they claimed in the first 13 Bundesliga home games of last season. But since their 2-0 victory against FC Schalke in April 2023, TSG have gone 20 Bundesliga home games without keeping a clean sheet – in 2023/24, TSG became only the third club to fail to keep a home clean sheet in a Bundesliga season after RW Essen in 1973/74 and VfB Stuttgart in 2021/22.

…Hoffenheim matches were very entertaining last season?

Only the matches involving FC Bayern produced more goals in the Bundesliga last season (139) than those involving TSG Hoffenheim (132) – TSG finished the campaign with 66 goals in both the for and against columns. Since the start of the 90s, no other team has crossed the threshold of 66 goals scored and conceded in one Bundesliga campaign: Hoffenheim in the 2013/14 season (72-70).

…Marcel Rapp is returning to the Kraichgau?

Kiel coach Marcel Rapp coached the TSG Hoffenheim youth teams up until October 2021, before making the move to Holstein Kiel. Together with Matthias Kaltenbach, he was promoted to the first team for four games at the end of the 2019/20 season (W3 L1). Of all the current Bundesliga coaches, only Heidenheim’s Frank Schmidt has been at his current club for longer (16 years, 11 months) than Rapp (2 years, 10.5 months).