What makes Hertha BSC so strong in this 2. Bundesliga season? What kind of match can fans at Berlin's Olympic Stadium expect? And what's the mood like within the SV Darmstadt 98 squad? At the press conference on Friday (January 30th), Darmstadt head coach Florian Kohfeldt answered these and other questions. We've summarised the most important statements for you.
Personnel update: Matthias Bader, Bartosz Bialek and Killian Corredor remain sidelined with injuries. All other players are available.
Hertha remains the undisputed top favourite in the league. Along with Hannover, they boast the strongest squad in terms of individual talent. Hertha, along with us, is the most in-form team in the league, having earned 19 points from their last ten matches. While they started the second half of the season with two draws, they were clearly the better team in both games – especially in their home match against Schalke. They were also very dominant at the end of the second half in Karlsruhe. We’re facing a team with a lot of attacking quality. Overall, their squad possesses incredible quality. They have players who really shouldn’t be playing in the second division – like Reese, Cuisance, and Kownacki. Compared to the first leg, they also have Seguin, who provides a real rhythm on the pitch. And Dardai is the most technically gifted centre-back in the league. Defensively, they’ve lost their most aggressive defender with Zefuuik suspended, but they are still very well-coordinated and press with a clear system.
We can certainly look forward to a top-class match. Hertha is an opponent we’ve studied very intensively, and we had to. They’ve certainly done the same for us. We can cause them problems with our style of play. Therefore, I’m looking forward to a top-class match. And top matches are usually decided by the smallest of margins. So we’re very focused and looking forward to a heated game in cold Berlin.
The mood in the team – and this is how I see it – is basically the same as it has been all season. We were happy about the win and the performance against Nürnberg. On Wednesday, we analysed the Nürnberg game, focusing on what we can learn from it. Then, at the beginning of the week, we had some really excellent, high-intensity, and very sharp training sessions. So, our focus immediately shifted back to the next game. We’re confident, focused, and really eager. These are generally good conditions. We’re concentrating solely on Berlin and nothing else. We’re concentrating on our actions, what we want to do, and how we want to do it. That’s an important attitude. It’s about never losing your head, even if you concede a goal. It’s about staying grounded and concentrating on what you’re doing. And that’s exactly what the lads are doing.
Fabian Holland and Fabian Nürnberger are both options for the starting eleven again. Niklas Schmidt completed a very intensive training session on Wednesday without any problems; the intensity was roughly equivalent to 60 to 70 minutes of a match. Therefore, based purely on his fitness level, he would certainly be an option to start for around 60 minutes. We’re talking about the positions he can play, but also about key players. Everyone who plays in his positions is that extra bit sharper because they know someone has joined the team who can also play there very well. For a coach, that’s a fantastic situation.
From the very beginning of this transfer window, we said that after Meldin Dreskovic’s departure, we wanted to bring in someone for the centre-back position – a player with potential for development. I can say that we’ve made significant progress in our search.
The Bundesliga finalised the match schedules for matchdays three through six on Wednesday (July 15th): Darmstadt's home game against Hannover 96 on matchday three will take place on Sunday. This will be followed by their away game against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday at 1pm. The home game against Arminia Bielefeld on Friday evening and the away game in Wolfsburg, also on Friday evening, have also been confirmed.
The Lilies can welcome another new arrival at the Böllenfalltor: Florian Kleinhansl will now wear the SV 98 jersey. The 25-year-old joins on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract with 1. FC Kaiserslautern on June 30th.
Third test, third clear victory. SV 98 won the match against FC 08 Homburg 5-1 (3-0).
SV Darmstadt 98 and the fusion energy company Focused Energy are entering into an official partnership. The aim of the collaboration is to more closely link top-level football and high technology from the Darmstadt region and to jointly generate momentum for innovation and future societal issues.
Killian Corredor will be playing in his home country again in the future. SV 98 has reached an agreement with FC Nantes on the transfer of the Frenchman.
On Tuesday (July 14, 6pm), SV Darmstadt 98 hosts Regionalliga side FC Homburg and asks fans to take note of the following information.
A home game against KSV! SV Darmstadt 98 hosts Holstein Kiel for the opening matchday of the 2. Bundesliga season this Saturday (August 8 at 1pm). Here’s how you can be there: the member pre-sale for the new season's first home game begins this coming Wednesday (July 15) at 12pm —available online and at the ticket shop at the Merck-Stadion, as usual. You can find all further details in this announcement.
For every home goal scored by the "Lilies," SV Darmstadt 98 fans were doubly rewarded during the recent 2025/26 second-division season. Beyond the joy and excitement, supporters received 98 litres of Krombacher Pils for every goal Darmstadt scored at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor.
In recent days, various media outlets have published reports and graphics regarding the distribution of TV revenue for the 2026/27 season. Some of these reports included not only specific figures but also a comparison to the previous season. This comparison indicates a supposed revenue increase of €1.4 million for SV 98 compared to the 2025/26 season.
SV Darmstadt 98 successfully completed their second pre-season friendly, defeating Verbandsliga side VfR Fehlheim 8-0 (4-0).
