3/1 To Win
Derby County will come up against top German opposition in the lead-up to the 2017/18 season.
Manager Gary Rowett and his backroom staff have been hard at work putting plans in place for next season in recent weeks, as they prepare to oversee their first pre-season with the Rams.Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim will visit Pride Park Stadium in what will be Derby’s final pre-season fixture ahead of the new Sky Bet Championship season on Saturday 29th July 2017 (3pm kick-off).
Hoffenheim currently sit fourth in the German top flight and, with two games to go, could still secure automatic qualification for the group stages of next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Having confirmed a top four spot already, sitting behind Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund in the table, Hoffenheim will at the very least be playing Champions League qualifiers next season.
Ticket information for the game will be confirmed in due course and communicated to supporters right here on dcfc.co.uk.
Ahead of the game against Hoffenheim, Derby will face another German side seven days beforehand.
They will head over to Germany to face 2. Bundesliga outfit Kaiserslautern at their Fritz-Walter-Stadion, which was a venue for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, on Saturday 22nd July 2017 (4pm kick-off local time).
Kaiserslautern are 12th in the table with two games remaining in their season. A club with top flight history in Germany, they were Bundesliga champions in 1997/98, as well as being UEFA Cup (now Europa League) semi-finalists in 2000/01.
Derby’s players will report back for pre-season training on Wednesday 28th June, allowing five and a half weeks’ worth of preparation time ahead of next season.
Rowett’s side will travel to Tenerife for a training camp – which will NOT include any games – on Sunday 2nd July, before returning to the UK the following weekend.
Derby’s domestic friendly matches are in the process of being finalised and will be announced as soon as possible.
