After the German Cup final, there will be a week's rest before the 30th round of the Bundesliga 2 home game against Jena.
Therefore, Ralph gave the team three full days off to allow everyone to have a good rest, relax their tense nerves after the winter break, and let the players enjoy the joy of winning the championship.
It was not until April 23 that the team members returned to the training base and began daily training.
The glory of the German Cup has become a thing of the past. Fans can continue to indulge in the epic joy of winning the German Cup, but the team must calm down and prepare for the league.
Now, Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach have the same 56 points, but Hoffenheim is ahead because of the goal difference and ranks first in the Bundesliga standings.
If this ranking remains until the end of the season, Hoffenheim will win the Bundesliga championship and complete the league and cup double.
Although this league is not the first division league and the double crown is much less valuable, it is still a rare honor.
Especially for a country club like Hoffenheim that has never even played in the second division, let alone any championship honors, even a second division championship is definitely worth the team's best efforts.
Therefore, on the first day of resuming training, Dietmar Hopp made a rare appearance on the training ground to give a speech, encouraging the players to keep up the good work, win the league championship, and complete the achievement of winning the league and cup double.
If they can beat Bayern Munich, then these opponents in the second division will naturally be no problem at all.
What Hoffenheim needs to overcome is the team's own mentality.
Hoffenheim has been fully integrated and has good teamwork. As long as they don't act carelessly, arrogant or underestimate the enemy, there is no doubt that they will win the second division championship.
In addition to verbal encouragement, Hope, who is not short of money, naturally has a more realistic championship bonus to motivate everyone.
After the German Cup, a considerable championship bonus was added to the salary cards of all team members.
This time, Hopp promised a higher prize money for the 2. Bundesliga championship than the German Cup.
Because, after winning this championship, it is not only a league championship, but also the accompanying honors and benefits such as the double crown and promotion to the first division.
After the boss left, the whole team threw themselves into training with great enthusiasm.
In fact, even if Hope didn't come to give a lecture, everyone's enthusiasm would not be low.
Although these Hoffenheim players are all strong, none of them have any decent honors.
The one who came closest to the honor was probably Obasi, who led the Nigerian youth team to the final of the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands that year.
However, unfortunately, Nigeria met Argentina, which had Messi, in the final and lost to their opponent as expected, only getting the runner-up.
Against this background, Hoffenheim's players are naturally still hungry for honor, and a German Cup title will not satisfy them.
What's more, there are also good bonus incentives.
Lu Wenbin, who developed a sense of belonging to Hoffenheim and kissed the team logo at Sinsheim City Square, is no exception and is also actively training.
After winning the German Cup, Lu Wenbin received rewards of 1000 points for 1 assist + 4000 points for 2 goals + 4000 points for winning, a total of 9000 experience points, and his level of experience increased to 10212/100,000.
At the same time, after winning the championship, Lu Wenbin also completed the task of winning the German Cup, and was rewarded with 20,000 experience points and 10 skill points. The level experience rose to level 12 30212/100,000, and the skill point balance increased to 11 points.
After spending 9 skill points to increase the off-ball running from 13/13 to 16/16, Lu Wenbin kept the remaining 2 skill points.
If he were to level up again and gain 10 skill points, Lu Wenbin would have 12 skill points, and could then increase his off-ball running to the full value of 20/20.
By then, with 20/20 off-ball running and 20/20 shooting, he will definitely be the king of the penalty area. Players like Inzaghi and Van Nistelrooy will have to kneel before his two full attributes.
Even though it has not reached the full value, just 16/16 off-ball running has already surprised the coach and teammates in training.
During the training match, the team's substitute defenders found it difficult to defend Lu Wenbin, even if they marked him closely.
Because Lu Wenbin has a stronger insight into open spaces, he can easily create a short open space to receive the ball and shoot by using acceleration, deceleration, and sudden return runs.
As long as the teammates who pass the ball can see Lu Wenbin's running position and cooperate with him on the spot, it is as easy for Lu Wenbin to score five or six goals in a training match as eating and drinking water.
Even if Lu Wenbin is replaced by the substitute lineup, his teammates are replaced by substitutes, and the defender defending him is replaced by the main lineup, Lu Wenbin can still create many opportunities to shoot successfully.
It is impossible for Lu Wenbin to face the same frustration as in the German Cup final, where he was completely targeted by Bayern Munich's midfielder Oter and the defense line, and could only rely on an unexpected midfield lob and a free kick to score throughout the game.
Such a speed of improvement made Hoffenheim's teammates and coaches exclaim that it was abnormal.
At the same time, everyone is more confident about winning the German 2nd Bundesliga championship and getting the double crown.
…
A few days later, on April 27, 2008, in the 30th round of the 2007/2008 German Second Division, Hoffenheim played against Jena at home. Not only was the Hopp Stadium packed, but no less than 10,000 fans gathered outside the stadium and were not allowed to enter.
Hoffenheim, which just won the German Cup, not only had all the villagers of Hoffenheim come out and the number of local fans in Sinsheim increased greatly, but fans from nearby cities also flocked to Hoffenheim like a pilgrimage to watch Hoffenheim's home games.
As a result, the Hope Stadium, which has a capacity of only more than 5,000 people, was unable to accommodate all the fans. Fans who arrived late and did not have tickets could only linger outside, unable to get in and reluctant to leave.
Fortunately, the city government was well prepared and dispatched police to maintain order. They also installed several large speakers outside, which were connected to the on-site commentators so that fans outside could also hear the commentators' on-site broadcasts.
With the momentum of having just defeated Bayern Munich to win the German Cup, Hoffenheim, with the cheers of nearly 20,000 fans inside and outside the stadium, launched an unreasonable attack on Jena, which was ranked second from the bottom and had lost to Hoffenheim 1-5 in the German Cup semi-finals.
I had already rested for a week, so I had accumulated a lot of strength and was in good physical condition.
Coupled with the confidence and strength that winning the German Cup brought to the players, as well as the temptation of the double crown, Hoffenheim's attacking power in this game was almost a level higher than before.
Thanks to the support of his teammates, Lu Wenbin, who already had strong ability and has now improved his off-ball running by 3 points, has become even more unstoppable.