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Spurs were in business inside four minutes in Germany, James Maddison latching on to Pedro Porro's long pass and dispatching the ball into the roof of the net.

Maddison played a key role in the second, too, stealing possession in the middle of the pitch and releasing Son, whose deflected effort bobbled into the back of the net.

Hoffenheim was awarded a penalty shortly after the hour mark, only for the decision to be overturned by a video assistant referee (VAR) review just as it was ready to be taken.

The Bundesliga side did pull one back midway through the half, however, when Anton Stach was on the end of a smart move to divert past goalkeeper Brandon Austin.

A nervous period followed for the visitors before their skipper Son had another say, drilling in a left-footed effort from inside the area.

That was not the end of the scoring, David Mokwa pulling one back for Hoffenheim with two minutes on the clock, but his side could not force an equaliser.

Postecoglou has had to deal with an almighty injury list in recent weeks but his side did the business in Germany and the Australian was delighted with the spirit his depleted side showed.

"I thought the senior boys today all really stood up. You need your leaders to stand up and they did tonight," he said.

"I told them to enjoy it. Winning away in Europe, it's a significant victory for us and gives us a good foothold to get into those top eight spots. They enjoyed tonight, we'll recover and get ready for Sunday [v Leicetser City Monday AEDT].

"It's a great position to be in, we want to finish top eight because it gives us an extra week of rest and we'll probably need it around that time."

Postecoglou commented that Maddison's early opener was the key to the victory.

"It's not easy to get away wins in Europe. I was watching the Champions League last night and there was only one away victory so it's tough. Credit to the boys, I thought they were outstanding first half and played really well," he said.

"We looked a bit tired in the second half but hung on. Sonny scored a great goal to give us that extra buffer. We had the school boys out there in the end.

"We wanted to be a bit more aggressive and that is when Madders [James Maddison] is at his best. In the context of the game, we kind of knew if we could score early and put some pressure on them then it would give us a good foothold in the game.

"He was good all night. He got a bit tired in the second half but he caused them a lot of problems."

Postecoglou also revealed striker Dominic Solanke will be missing for six more weeks after suffering a knee injury.

The result leaves the German side 28th on the table, with a play-off place unlikely, while Spurs are fourth and can seal qualification when they host IF Elfsborg next week.