Hoffenheim: Dark horses of Group F?

The meteoric rise of the German club Hoffenheim from the lower leagues to the highest echelon of football, the Champions League, is one that has really taken the football world by storm. Their modest background cannot be overlooked and with Julian Nagelsmann by their side, the sky is the limit.

The success of the club over the last few years can be attributed to good scouting, smart use of analytics, futuristic training regimes such as the Footbonaut, and faith in their youth setup.

The arrival of the talismanic Julian Nagelsmann was the icing on the cake, and he has raised some eyebrows with his free flowing style of football similar to the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

Nagelsmann's tactical prowess was on show again against a formidable Shakthar team, where Hoffenheim bagged a key point which could potentially put them in contention to qualify for the round of 16 in a fairly open group.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - UEFA Champions League Group F

Nagelsmann usually sets his team up in a 3-1-4-2, but this is a fluid system which can change to 3-3-4 and 3-1-6 in certain moments.

The goal of the system is to use a high octane press that causes turnovers and allows quick transitions to the wide areas, where attacking players run into half spaces to draw out defenders causing numeric overloads across the pitch.

The downside of this approach although is being susceptible to counter attacks if teams can bypass the press and catch the wing-backs and central midfielders out of position.

The way Nagelsmann tries preventing this from happening is by using a central defender who is comfortable with the ball at his feet and steps out into central midfield when the high press is initiated to prevent numeric overloads by the opposition centrally.

This concept is very similar to Guardiola's style of play at Manchester City wherein the likes of Otamendi step out into midfield and control the passing tempo and act as a first barrier for cover when the opposition try countering. This gives teams tactical flexibility to transition easily and play through the press.

Hoffenheim do have scope for improvement defensively, although if they do play with desire like they did against Shakthar in a tough away game, things will only get better.

They face a formidable Manchester city at home next and it will be interesting to see if they can go toe to toe with a much more versatile City team.

Manchester City's loss against Lyon will leave Hoffenheim fans with hope that they can come up with some special football to beat Guardiola. Nevertheless their achievement to get to this stage cannot be ignored and they will definitely be one to watch in European competitions for years to come.