TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
That was going to be Schalke's first opponent in the second half of the season, and also the opponent that Higo would face in his debut game. Located in Sinsheim, a small town on the south-west side of the country, it was not a big club, at least compared to Schalke.
Well… That was when the topic was a full history, since the very first start of the Bundesliga itself.
However, things were different in the last couple of years. While Schalke's state kept declining further due to so many problems, Hoffenheim somehow showed that a countryside club like them could survive, even thriving to fight for a European spot in this league.
It was just last year when they managed to make a historical debut in the UEFA Champions League, and while they showed a decline in performance in the league, that team still managed to end up in the sixth position in the Bundesliga last season, putting them in the European League this year.
