Kramaric’s flawless career (goals opposed to Hertha Berlin, Schalke, Freiburg, Augsburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, a double of the house against Mainz and a treble against Hannover) sent Hoffenheim back to the contest for a top four, that Leicester, 2016 Premier League champion, on the water in the middle of the table, can be forgotten.
“I am satisfied with my contribution,” Kramaric said after assisting himself for his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga in the 32nd round. “I’ve played in other positions in attack, but I have full confidence right now and that makes things much less difficult for purpose, not just for me, in fact, but for all the strikers. game for us.”
It is no coincidence that Kramaric’s rediscovery took place right after Sandro Wagner’s move to Bayern in January. Kramaric deployed in giant spaces during the first part of the season, along with Wagner, the center striker of beloved coach Julian Nagelsmann. Former Dynamo Zagreb striker Rijeka and Leicester scored twice during this period, but is now thriving as the focal point of attack.
“Andrej played brilliantly against Hanover,” said Havard Nordtveit of Hoffenheim. “You can see how vital it is to our team when it scores. He’s a wonderful striker and he’s fit. He’s doing a wonderful task for us right now.”
Fortunately, the 26-year-old is no stranger to hard grafting. Despite a club record of 450 goals for Zagreb at youth point and 28 in 31 competitive matches for Rijeka in his final months in his local Croatia, he arrived in Sinsheim in January 2015 as an unknown father. His one-year stint at Leicester had been disappointing in the most productive (4 goals in 20 games), but he bowed his head on German soil and was rewarded.
Kramaric, a key Nagelsmann player at Hoffenheim, with his five goals and four assists helped Die Kraichgauer out of a gap the size of a relegation in the 2015/16 part. A permanent transfer to THE WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena continued and the excess objectives continued.
The Croatian, 27 times a foreigner, scored 15 goals in 2016/17, while Hoffenheim finished in the four most sensitive of all time. They fell to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League play-offs and were unable to move past the 2017/18 Europa League groups, but their appetite for European football remains.
Previously cancelled in the year, the fourth position now goes to Hoffenheim. They have a one-point mattress in fifth position with two games to play and, undefeating in nine years, the shape is on their side.
The long-term waring parties of VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund have their own European ambitions, but the TSG has the man, whose goals promise to see them cross the baseline and enter the Champions League for the first time. Leicester is the one who escaped: the prolific Kramaric.
Chris Mayer Lodge
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