Hamburg - Not long ago 1899 Hoffenheim were campaigning in the German fifth division in front of a few dozen fans.

On Sunday a capacity crowd of 26,300 will be in the Carl-Benz- Stadion in Mannheim to see the club take on Bundesliga table-toppers SV Hamburg.

But what makes the story so remarkable is not that before the start of the season few Germans knew exactly where Hoffenheim is (it is really a suburb of Sinsheim, population 36,000), or that it has less than 4,000 inhabitants or that Hoffenheim went from third division to second division to first division without pause.

No, what makes the match extra-ordinary is that it pits first against second.

Hamburg have 17 points, while the rookies have 16.

German football icon Franz Beckenbauer has said that he believes Ralf Rangnick's Hoffenheim to be strong enough to challenge for a place in Europe.

"If they continue playing the way they have this season, there is no reason why they will not be able to maintain their challenge. They are a strong side and deserve to be where they are."

The only team that managed to win the league championship as a promoted team was Kaiserslautern in 1998, but Hoffenheim is hoping to follow suit.

The other matches on Sunday see VfB Stuttgart at home to VfL Bochum, while an intriguing game takes place in Dortmund, where former Champions League winners Borussia Dortmund entertain Hertha Berlin.

The ninth round of Bundesliga matches kicks off on Friday with a derby between Bayer Leverkusen and Cologne.

Leverkusen is currently third on 16 points, while Cologne, who were also promoted at the end of last season, are ninth, just three points behind and have won their last three matches.

They are coached by former Leverkusen boss Christoph Daum, who said that fans should not expect them to win every game now. "I am glad that we are picking up points, but our goal is clearly to stay in the league. We should not lose focus of that, even if we are doing well."

Another coach facing his former club is Felix Magath, who is taking his VfL Wolfsburg side to Bayern Munich. The defending champions, who are in a disappointing 11th place with 12 points, are hoping that last week's victory against Karlsruhe and the midweek Champions League victory against Fiorentina, are the start of better things.

Manager Uli Hoeness certainly seems to think so. "Let me be fairly aggressive. I believe we will still become winter champions and then much of the criticism will fall away."

Another team looking to come back into the swing of things is Werder Bremen, who have scored more goals (22) than any other team, but are leaking goals at the back.

The 19 goals conceded by goalkeeper Tim Wiese is more than any other keeper. On Saturday Christian Vander will get his chance against Hanover as Wiese is out for two weeks with an injury.

65-year-old coach Hans Meyer will be in charge of Borussia Moenchengladbach for the first time in his second stint at the club as they are at home to Karlsruhe.

In other matches on Saturday Schalke take on Arminia Bielefeld, while Energie Cottbus face Eintracht Frankfurt. (dpa)