Hoffenheim signs Sturm Graz coach Christian Ilzer to replace Matarazzo

SINSHEIM, Germany (AP) — Austrian title winner Christian Ilzer headed to Germany on Friday as the new coach of Hoffenheim, taking over from American Pellegrino Matarazzo.

Ilzer won the Austrian league with Sturm Graz last season to end Salzburg’s 10-year reign as champion and qualify for the Champions League.

His appointment means Hoffenheim now has ex-Graz personnel in all of its top sports jobs after the club previously signed Andreas Schicker as sporting director and Paul Pajduch as technical director.

Schicker said in a statement Friday that the “clarity and high intensity” of Ilzer’s style would be a good fit for Hoffenheim.

Ilzer’s first game will be at home to Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Nov. 23 before facing Braga in the Europa League five days later.

Hoffenheim fired Matarazzo on Monday with the team 15th in the 18-team Bundesliga and without a goal in its last three league games. The New Jersey-born coach had been in charge since February 2023.

Ilzer leaves Graz in top spot in the Austrian league, though the team has lost all four of its games so far in the Champions League.

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