[spireitematt]

I`ve always maintained – and still do – that if a club has the right level of financial backing and is well-managed, they can achieve things that on the face of it really shouldn`t be possible. (Hoffenheim  is based in a “town” with a population of just over 3,000  - that`s about a third of the population of Clay Cross - and has played in the Champions League.)

Hoffenheim were the most hated club in Germany before RB Leipzig because a lot of fans of other traditional clubs didn't like the fact that Hoffenheim were an amateur club and worked there way up the German leagues they were called a 'Plastic club' by other fans very similar to how Manchester City and Chelsea are viewed in England. Other teams in Germany such as Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen aren't liked either because Wolfsburg is owned by Volkswagen and Bayer Leverkusen is owned by Bayer the German pharmaceutical company but the difference is the fans say they have history before the financially injections. Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen were founded by factory workers.

In the early 2000's they were right down near the bottom tier of the German leagues but Dietmar Hopp who owns SAP the German software company used to play for Hoffenheim when he was a teenager and he bought the club in the early 90's when they were at step 8 of the German pyramid and he invested money into Hoffenheim and helped them rise through the leagues eventually into the Bundersliga. He even built a new stadium for Hoffenheim in the Sinsheim area because Hoffenheim is only a village in the town of Sinsheim, that's why there is only a population of 3,000-4,000 in Hoffenheim.

As for RB Leipzig that's like Wimbledon and MK Dons argument but in Germany.

You maybe wondering how I know all this, it's because I follow German football and TSG Hoffenheim (got 2 shirts).