Across Europe, the major leagues have all returned over September, with many exciting games and fantastic performances across the continent. Ronaldo got off to a flyer, Salah and Son put on a show in the Premier League, and over in Germany… well its Andrej Kramaric, the 29 year old Croatian striker who has been whipping up a storm for Hoffenheim this month, earning him the inaugural NextGoalWinner European player of the month.

With 2 wins from 2 in the league, Hoffenheim have bagged 2 big results, including a 4-1 victory… yes you read that right, a 4-1 victory over European Champions, Bayern Munich. And that is massively thanks to Kramaric, resulting in this prestigious award.

Match By Match

5th September: Portugal 4-1 Croatia – Kicking off September in the Nations League, Kramaric and Croatia stumbled to a 4-1 loss over the current Nations League champions Portugal. In this tough loss, Kramaric didn’t show his later form from this month, instead playing just 74 minutes, and achieving a 5.69/10 rating for his performance in this one.

8th September: France 4-2 Croatia – Once again, the Nations League wasn’t kind to Croatia, as in the repeat of the 2018 World Cup final, France again were victorious over Kramaric’s side. He did make the full 90 in this one, however he only managed a 6.26/10 as a result of just 1 shot off target in this tough game.

13th September: Chemnitzer FC 2-2 Hoffenheim – Back in Germany, the season for Hoffenheim got off to a start in this round 1 tie in the DFB Pokal against 4th tier Chemnitzer FC. It was a tough old game for Hoffenheim, as they needed penalties to overcome a major cupset. Kramaric was key in this game, as he bagged in normal time, and in extra-time to ensure the game went to penalties. It was a tough day for Hoffenheim, however Kramaric definitely began on a run of form which was set to continue.

19th September: FC Koln 2-3 Hoffenheim – Going into the start of the Bundesliga and matchday 1, Hoffenheim again made things difficult, and were completely reliant on Kramaric to secure all 3 points after 3 goals. With 3 goals in the opening game, and 5 in the last 2, Kramaric was really picking up form as he scored in the opening moments, just before half-time and in the final few moments to take the points from Koln. After this one, he achieved a rating of 8.95/10 and took home the MoTM award.

27th September: Hoffenheim 4-1 Bayern Munich – This was the one where Kramaric truly showed his quality. As he continued his run of form into this massive clash against the giants of Bayern Munich. Quickly going 2-0 up, they were pegged back to 2-1, until the 77th minute when up stepped the Croatian finisher, who bagged twice in the last 20 minutes to secure a momentous victory. Individually, with 2 goals and a second (back-to-back) MoTM award, Kramaric earnt a 8.44/10 rating thanks to his performance. From his 44 touches, Kramaric dominated, in which he made 8 shots (4 on target), and made 1 key pass as he played a pivotal role in this matchup. It topped off an increasingly impressive month for the striker, and earnt plaudits from football fans around the world, including us at NextGoalWinner, and takes home the prestigious award.

Well done Kramaric lad.