Guirassy and Kramaric: A Fixture Full of Drama
The road to Sinsheim has been kind to Serhou Guirassy. The BVB striker has scored in each of his last four away appearances there, turning a tricky venue into something close to his personal playground.
On Matchday 30 last season, he struck late again. His 87th‑minute equaliser looked set to salvage a 1-1 draw for Borussia Dortmund. For a few minutes, it felt like classic BVB – late drama, momentum swinging their way.
Then Andrej Kramaric stepped back into the story.
Two handball penalties, one in the 27th minute and another deep into stoppage time at 90+8, turned the night on its head. Hoffenheim walked away with a 3-1 win and their first home victory over the Black and Yellows since December 2019. A long wait, snapped in the most nervy, chaotic fashion.
Kramaric loves this fixture. He has 11 goals in 18 Bundesliga meetings with Dortmund, a tally built on big moments rather than background noise. There was the four-goal masterclass in June 2020 in Dortmund, a ruthless away performance that still stings when BVB fans look back. Add in last season’s penalty double and you have a forward who repeatedly finds a way to hurt them.
Only against Hertha BSC has the Croatian scored more often in the Bundesliga. That says plenty about how often he rises when the shirts in front of him are yellow and black.
Dortmund, though, rarely leave Sinsheim empty-handed in an attacking sense. They have scored in each of their last 14 matches there. The flip side? Across 18 away games at Hoffenheim, they have managed a clean sheet only twice. This is not a fixture for defensive purists. It breathes goals, chances, and nervous glances at the clock.
The numbers between the clubs underline how tight it usually is. In 36 Bundesliga clashes, BVB have the edge with 16 wins, 11 draws and nine defeats. The goal difference is just as narrow: 58 scored, 52 conceded. Their “biggest wins” in this duel? Three separate 3-1 victories. No thrashings, no humiliation. Just repeated, hard-fought margins.
The temperature often rises too. Nine red cards in those 36 meetings tell their own story. This pairing doesn’t just produce goals; it produces flashpoints, arguments, and the kind of needle that sticks in the memory long after the final whistle.
So what decides the 37th chapter? It might be the long shot.
On the opening matchday of the new campaign, only SC Freiburg took more efforts from outside the box (11) than Borussia Dortmund (nine) and Hoffenheim (seven). Both sides clearly trust their shooters from range.
Dortmund’s attempts against HSV came to nothing, a flurry of efforts without the payoff. Hoffenheim, by contrast, saw Adam Daghim announce himself in style. On his first Bundesliga appearance, he stepped up in Cologne and struck from distance to make it 1-0, a clean hit in a match that eventually finished 3-2 to FC. The goal still stands out as the purest moment of that contest.
Put all of this together and the pattern is familiar. Guirassy scores here. Kramaric scores here. Dortmund find the net. Dortmund concede. Tempers flare.
If the history holds, the next meeting in Sinsheim will not drift quietly into the background. It will be decided on fine margins – and maybe, this time, by whoever dares to pull the trigger from 25 yards first.
