The historic Olympiastadion in Berlin: With a capacity of over 74,000 spectators, it is the largest stadium in the 2nd Bundesliga and the home of Hertha BSC. The stadium, which hosts the annual DFB Cup final, was built for the 1936 Summer Olympics and is considered one of Germany's football landmarks. On Saturday afternoon (April 12th, 1pm), the Lilies will travel to Berlin to face Hertha for Matchday 29 of the 2nd Bundesliga, and we've compiled the top facts about the match for you.
After a rather rocky start under new coach Stefan Leitl, Hertha BSC is gaining momentum. The Berlin club recently celebrated three consecutive victories – including an impressive 1-0 away victory against second-placed 1. FC Köln. Now the „Old Lady“ could reach a milestone: With another win, Hertha would record four consecutive victories for the first time since 2013. Back then, the head coach was Jos Luhukay – and at the end of that season, they celebrated the 2. Bundesliga championship title.
In the last match against 1. FC Köln, Fabian Reese once again emerged as the match winner: With his goal to make it 1-0, he not only secured three crucial points for Hertha BSC, but also scored for the fourth consecutive game. The 27-year-old is currently in impressive form, having scored seven of Hertha’s last eleven goals. Since joining the Berlin club, Reese has made 48 appearances, scoring 20 goals and providing 18 assists.
Hertha BSC prefers to play from the wings: With 328 crosses from open play, the Berlin team is among the most prolific in the league – only Karlsruher SC (354) and SC Paderborn (388) deliver more crosses from outside the box. The Lilies, however, needn’t let this intimidate them. A tall man is waiting in the center: Aleksandar Vukotić, a giant in the Lilies jersey at over two meters, is currently the strongest aerial tackler in the 2. Bundesliga. With 129 aerial duels won, he comfortably leads the league rankings.
To take something tangible from Berlin, one particular discipline could make the difference: set pieces – especially free kicks. This is precisely where the Old Lady’s Achilles heel lies this season. Hertha BSC has already had to clear the ball out of its own net six times after a direct or indirect free kick – no other team in the 2. Bundesliga is more vulnerable in this category.
Hertha should be prepared for one thing in particular: the Lilies‘ counterattacking prowess. Whenever their opponents give SV Darmstadt 98 too much space at the back, the South Hesse side react quickly – and strike with icy coolness. With six counterattack goals scored, SVD is among the league leaders in this discipline, ranking third. For Hertha BSC, this means that every turnover can be extremely dangerous. The Lilies know how to convert speed into goals.
Stefan Leitl and Florian Kohfeldt have faced each other as head coaches three times – and Kohfeldt has prevailed three times. While the team’s colours have changed over the years, one thing has remained constant: Leitl is still waiting for his first victory in a head-to-head duel. The last meeting between the two coaches was not that long ago: Leitl – then coach of Hannover 96 – and Kohfeldt faced off in the first half of this season. Darmstadt won 2-1 in Hannover – and Kohfeldt thus continued his personal streak against Leitl.
Leitl’s recent introduction to the blue and white club colours isn’t new to Hertha. During his playing days, the former midfielder also played for Darmstadt 98 in the Regionalliga Süd from 2004 to 2007. In 93 games for the Lilies, Leitl scored 14 goals and provided three assists.
Jean-Paul Boetius, a former Hertha player, plays for Darmstadt. The Dutchman began his career at Feyenoord Rotterdam. After loan spells with Genk and Basel, he eventually landed in Germany with Mainz 05 and then with Hertha BSC in the 2022/23 season. He made 21 Bundesliga appearances for the capital club. His CV includes a total of 143 Bundesliga appearances, including twelve goals and 20 assists. Boëtius has already made eight appearances, including two assists, in the 2. Bundesliga since joining SV 98.
Aleksandar Vukotic (9), Matej Maglica (4), Philipp Förster (4), Fabian Nürnberger (4), Fraser Hornby (4), and Merveille Papela (4) have already been booked. A further yellow card for any of the players would result in a suspension.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals | |
| Home | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 15:16 |
| Away | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7:16 |
| Total | 23 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 22:32 |
From the early 1980s, he was active in the service of SV Darmstadt 98 for almost four decades: We Lilies congratulate the former team doctor of SVD, Dr. Michael Weingart, most sincerely on his 75th birthday this Wednesday (April 15th)!
There are five games left in the season, meaning a total of 15 points are still up for grabs. But Darmstadt's focus is entirely on Sunday's match (April 19th, 1:30pm) against Greuther Fürth. From the media briefing with Fabian Nürnberger, from the hockey pitch to San Antonio: We report on all these topics and many more. As usual, you can find all the latest news from SV 98's club life here in our weekly column "Lilies Across the Board."
SV 98 mourns the loss of its former player Roger Prinzen, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Monday evening (April 13th) at the age of 57.
The long wait for a point is over! After four consecutive defeats, SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team finally secured some points. On their home turf, the young Lilies drew 1-1 against TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf last Saturday (April 11th). Looking at the league table, it was clear even before the match that it wouldn't be easy, as a full ten places separated the two teams in the LOTTO Hessenliga standings. However, the Lilies' U21 team remained evenly matched with the seventh-placed side and collected a crucial home point.
This match is a tradition – at least at the veterans' level: The SV Darmstadt 98 veterans team visited Real Madrid for the third time. The game was played last Thursday (April 9th) at the "Royal Whites'" training ground in the Valdebebas district of Madrid.
The season is drawing to a close, and SV Darmstadt 98's penultimate away match takes them to the Wildpark stadium. On Sunday (May 3rd, 1:30pm), SV 98 will be playing away against Karlsruher SC. We need a large turnout of Darmstadt fans to support them. Advance ticket sales for club members begin next Wednesday (April 15th) at noon. All ticket information can be found in this announcement.
It happened in their 15th home game of the season. Darmstadt lost on their own turf. Deservedly so. Although SV 98 tried everything against the visitors from Hannover until the final whistle, the Lower Saxons proved too strong on Saturday evening. In our analysis, we take another look at the match.
For the first time this season, SV Darmstadt 98 finished a match at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor without any points. The Lilies offered more resistance to Hannover 96's two goals in the second half. However, the pressure exerted by the South Hessians at the end proved fruitless. Read here what the players and both head coaches had to say about the defeat, which Darmstadt considered deserved overall.
Everything has to end and so the undefeated home record of SV 98 ended on Saturday night. Hannover 96 triumphed 2-0 (1-0) to hand the Lilies their first home loss of the season at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor.
Another top match at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. On matchday 29 (April 11th/8:30pm), Hannover 96 visits Darmstadt. For the clash with their direct league rivals, Florian Kohfeldt has made three changes to his starting eleven. The suspended Lidberg and Klefisch are replaced by Lakenmacher and Papela, and Niklas Schmidt comes in for Marco Richter. Bartosz Bialek returns to the Darmstadt 98 matchday squad for the first time this calendar year after recovering from injury.
Once again at 8:30pm, floodlights, top match, and at the Bölle! On Saturday (April 11th/8:30pm), Hannover 96 visits Darmstadt, and once again two teams from the top five meet at Nieder-Ramstädter-Straße. What do the two head coaches have to say before the match? Who will be the referee? And who will be the commentator? As usual, we've compiled all the important information about the game against the Lower Saxony side for you in "Matchday Compact."
