Hoffenheim reel from Ibišević blow

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's title ambitions have been dealt a severe blow with the news that Bundesliga top scorer Vedad Ibišević could miss the rest of the season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Leading scorer
The 2008 Bosnia-Herzegovina Player of the Year, who has been capped 13 times by his country, suffered the injury in a 2-0 loss to Hamburger SV in a friendly match at the club's training camp in La Manga, Spain. The 24-year-old has scored 18 goals in 17 Bundesliga matches to fire Hoffenheim to the top of the table at the winter break in their first season in Germany's top division. Hoffenheim are level on 35 points with FC Bayern München with the league set to restart on 31 January.

'Badly shocked'
"Even before this bad injury we were on the lookout for a new striker who could help us improve," Hoffenheim sporting director Jan Schindelmeiser said. "Now we will have to act quicker than we wanted to." Coach Ralf Rangnick added: "We are badly shaken, but we have to go on. The new striker can be a bit older than Vedad. The most important thing is that he fits in with our team. In addition he has to have an established track record of scoring goals."