Hoffenheim and Lyon met at SNP Arena in the UEFA Europa League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. Lyon went down to 3-0 and spent the remainder of the evening trying to pull the game back. The turning point came at the 45+4 minute mark, when Andrej Kramarić scored cleanly, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. Hoffenheim won 3-0 and carried the points home. 21029 supporters filled SNP Arena, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read L L L L W for Hoffenheim and W W L W W for Lyon, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.
Match facts
- Date: 22.10.2026
- Kick-off: 19:00 UTC
- Venue: SNP Arena, Sinsheim, Germany (30164)
- Attendance: 21029
- Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Türkiye)
- Competition: UEFA Europa League 2026/2027 – Matchday 3
- Starting line-ups: Hoffenheim (4-4-2, Coach: Christian Ilzer) / Lyon (4-3-3, Coach: Paulo Fonseca)
- Scorers: Andrej Kramarić 45+4′ (Hoffenheim); Adam Daghim 49′ (Hoffenheim); Adam Hložek 83′ (Hoffenheim)
Hoffenheim lined up with Oliver Baumann, Vladimír Coufal, Robin Hranác, Ozan Kabak, Mats Rots, Bambasé Conté, Leon Avdullahu, Alexander Prass, Adam Daghim, Tim Lemperle, Andrej Kramarić in a 4-4-2, while Lyon answered with Dominik Greif, Steeve Kango, Felix Bacher, Clinton Mata, Ruben Kluivert, Noah Nartey, Tanner Tessmann, Mads Bidstrup, Kaïl Boudache, Rémi Himbert, Keito Nakamura in a 4-3-3. Christian Ilzer and Paulo Fonseca led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.
Goals and key moments
Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 45+4 minute mark, Andrej Kramarić scored cleanly, and there was nothing anyone could do about 1-0. It was a chance worth 0.13 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point Hoffenheim could play for the counter while Lyon had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. 49′: Adam Daghim scored cleanly, Andrej Kramarić helping it over the line, and it was 2-0 almost immediately. The chance itself carried 0.11 expected goals of weight, and the goalkeeper had no answer to it. The opening goal of the night arrived at the 83 minute mark, when Adam Hložek scored cleanly for 3-0. The goalkeeper would say afterwards that it was worth 0.05, and that is the harshest measure of all. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.
The tactical picture
Hoffenheim started in 4-4-2 under Christian Ilzer, while Lyon answered with 4-3-3 under Paulo Fonseca, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. Hoffenheim’s 4-4-2 was the sharper of the two systems, and Lyon’s 4-3-3 spent longer than they should have without the ball. Hoffenheim pressed high and won the second ball, which left Lyon unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against Lyon, who kept trying to attack down the same flank and were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: Hoffenheim moved the ball forward at speed, Lyon could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.
Statistical comparison
The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. Expected goals told the sharper story: 2.09 for Hoffenheim, 0.87 for Lyon. Hoffenheim attempted 21 shots to Lyon’s 8, with 8 on target against 2. Possession finished at 43 per cent for Hoffenheim against 57 per cent for Lyon, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. The numbers that decide matches rarely tell the whole story, but they narrow the argument down to a very small area. Hoffenheim won 11 corners to Lyon’s 9, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. Hoffenheim completed 316 of 381 passes against 424 of 514 for Lyon, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 20 times by Hoffenheim and 6 by Lyon, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 2 and 5 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 47 to 47, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 19 times by Hoffenheim and 12 by Lyon, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening. Hoffenheim managed 12 shots from inside the penalty area compared with 7 for Lyon, which is the clearest single indicator of where the game was actually played.
Discipline and substitutions
Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. Hoffenheim collected 3 yellow cards and Lyon 1, with Mats Rots (9′), Wouter Burger (72′), Ozan Kabak (81′) among the bookings. The caution count of 4 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 5 by Hoffenheim and 5 by Lyon, with the last substitution of the evening coming at the 77 minute mark. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. Halil Umut Meler took charge of the match and kept a close eye on a game that grew untidy in the middle third.
Player of the match and the standout performers
Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Andrej Kramarić of Hoffenheim was the player of the match with a rating of 9.4, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For Hoffenheim, the best individual rating belonged to Andrej Kramarić (9.44). For Lyon, the best individual rating belonged to Felix Bacher (7.57). The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. The goalkeeping was worth a mention too: Oliver Baumann made 2 saves for Hoffenheim, and Dominik Greif made 5 for Lyon. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Andrej Kramarić (9.44), Oliver Baumann (8.09), Felix Bacher (7.57), Tyler Morton (6.86).
What the result means for the league phase
Hoffenheim on 3 points from 3 matches, in 23rd place with a goal difference of +0 and Lyon on 6 points from 3 matches, in 12th place with a goal difference of -1. Hoffenheim arrived with L L L L W in their last five and Lyon with W W L W W, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For Hoffenheim the three points are banked and the group is a shade closer to settled; for Lyon the work still to be done, and this defeat has made that plain. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.