Winning against TSG Hoffenheim is nearly a certainty for Thomas Tuchel. His team's 2-1 win was already the eighth win for him as a Head Coach in the 14. game against the team from Kraichgau (five draws). But this time the win was especially important.

By getting their 17. win of the current season, the twelth win at home, BVB overtook TSG Hoffenheim and climbed back to third in the table. That is the league position that means direct qualification to the UEFA Champions League.

Thomas Tuchel gave the following analysis after the game: "the team deserves the biggest compliment for the way they show intensity and willingness to work hard in order to achieve their goals. Right from the start we defended suberbly. That was the absolute key to success." The tight defence, the willingness to take that one extra step and to press the opponent made TSG lose their nerve a bit.  That is what it appeared like.

The guests did not create any clear chances on goal, even though they had 58% possession. Even Hoffenheim's Head Coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted: "we didn't have any real dangerous chances to score." BVB on the other hand did manage to take advantage of two out of a total of eleven shots on goal. Marco Reus scored from an off-side position early on in the fourth minute to make it 1-0. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who  had just missed a penalty for handball (14.), made sure BVB were finally on the winning track when he scored late on (82.). The consolation goal through Andrej Kramaric (86.) - also a penalty - was too late. Gonzalo Castro said: "in the end we held our nerve to hang on to our 2-1 lead."

Marco Reus explained after the game: "psychologically it was incredibly important to beat a direct competitor." The 27 year old made the following calculation: "if we get four points out of our last two games, we will be third. That is what we want to achieve."

Third place within sight, the DFB Cup Final on their minds...Thomas Tuchel urged caution after the 2-1 win: "this season isn't over yet, we have not secured third place yet. It is absolutely vital we don't lose our sense of urgency."

The weeks ahead will be quite a challenge, they will involve games against relegation threatened FC Augsburg (1-1 in the first half of the season), against Werder Bremen who are fighting to qualify for the Europa League (2-1) and of course the DFB Cup Final in Berlin. This is not exactly an easy run-in to the season. Thomas Tuchel: "it is our absolute duty to work at this level for another three weeks, to give everything and to overcome any obstacles that get in our way. We want to win another three times so that we can achieve our goals."

The first trial run will be next Saturday in Augsburg. Gonzalo Castro: "if we win there, the win against Hoffenheim will be worth it's weight in gold." (gh)