Open letter from the Presidium
On the occasion of the confirmed relegation of the Lilies, the executive board of SV Darmstadt 98 addressed the public with an open letter.
14.04.2024 / English
Figures & facts: The top facts about the Freiburg game
The Lilies have their home game against SC Freiburg on Sunday (April 14/3:30pm). The sports club is an opponent coming to the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor who is still in the fight for the European places. Before the Darmstadt team face Freiburg, you will find all the important facts about the game here. What gives hope for victory? What are the strengths of the sports club? You can find out in our top facts about the game.
A point in the first game
On the 12th matchday, captain Fabian Holland’s team played at SC Freiburg’s Europa-Park Stadium for the first time. This has been the Breisgauer’s home stadium since 2021, previously the SCF played in the Dreisamstadion. At the Lilien’s debut in the new stadium at the end of November, Lieberknecht’s team immediately scored a point. Mathias Honsak scored with a deflected shot in the 18th minute to give SVD the lead, but Lucas Höler levelled before the half-time whistle. In the second half, both teams failed to take the lead despite good chances, so the score remained 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Clear home win in 2017
In the 98ers‘ last home game against the sports club from Freiburg, the Lilien fans were able to celebrate an unchallenged 3-0 home win. At that time, Torsten Frings was still on the sidelines for the South Hesse team, while Christian Streich had already been in office as head coach of FC Freiburg for five years at the time. In the sold-out Jonathan-Heimes Stadium, Felix Platte, Jerome Gondorf and Sven Schipplock scored for a confident home win. Players like Fabian Holland and Christian Günther already played against each other back then, and both defensive players are now captains of their teams.
Freiburg with set piece and cross strength
The sports club scored just over a third of Freiburg’s goals via set piece play. Streich’s team was successful 14 times after a stationary ball, the fifth best value in the league. What’s exciting is that the SCF has comparatively very few corners; with 111 corners, the Breisgauers are in 16th place in the league ranking. The fact that the Freiburg team can do a lot with high balls is shown by the fact that they have already been successful nine times from crosses – a league best . It will be important for the Lilies to allow few set pieces and not to often put the opponent in cross situations.
Record of Freiburg against promoted teams
This season things didn’t go so smoothly for the sports club against the promoted teams Heidenheim and Darmstadt. Only one point could be gained from these two duels in the first half of the season; the return games are still pending. Things went much better last season, with the SCF picking up a solid twelve points from the four games against then-promoted Bremen and Schalke with a goal difference of 10:1. The last time Freiburg had a negative record against promoted teams was in the 2019/20 season. At that time, three new teams, Cologne, Union and Paderborn, played in the Bundesliga. Christian Streich’s team was only able to win two duels and had to admit defeat four times.
Suspensions Looming
The three defenders Jannik Müller, Christoph Zimmermann and Fabian Holland have four yellow cards. Klaus Gjasula is ready to play again after serving his suspension against Mainz; he received his fifth yellow card in the 2-2 draw in Bochum. Freiburg has to do without striker Lucas Höler, the 29-year-old currently has ten scorer points, but received his fifth warning in the 64th minute in the last game against Leipzig.
Overall Record
| Games | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Goals | |
| Home | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 23:20 |
| Away | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 18:22 |
| Overall | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 41:42 |
Opposition Check: VfL Wolfsburg
What has to happen for one of the largest Spanish daily newspapers to print the following sentence? “Wolfsburg in the style of Real Madrid!” That was the headline in the newspaper “El Mundo” during the 2014/15 season. VfL had just spectacularly defeated FC Bayern Munich 4-1. “Suddenly Wolfsburg appeared and messed up Bayern’s film,” the Spanish reporters continued in their text. The Lower Saxony team were currently Bayern's number one hunters – well on the way to perhaps even becoming FCB's worst competitor?
When the day comes
“If you know that this day is coming, you can prepare for it to some extent,” said Torsten Lieberknecht in front of rolling TV cameras. At this point late on Sunday evening, there was already certainty in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor, which was filled with dejected people, hanging heads and sad faces. The 0-1 defeat against 1. FC Heidenheim sealed SV Darmstadt 98's relegation from the 1st Bundesliga. “But when that day comes, everything you thought about beforehand is gone,” continued the Lilien head coach: “Because it’s just a rubbish moment.”
“It’s a rubbish feeling”
The result this Sunday means that SV Darmstadt 98's Bundesliga journey is coming to an end. In the coming season, the Lilies will compete in the second Bundesliga. We have summarised here what the Darmstadt protagonists said in front of the microphones after the 0-1 defeat against 1. FC Heidenheim.
Relegation Confirmed
The Lilies lose their home game, so it's clear: SV 98 will play in the 2. Bundesliga again next season. The match against 1. FC Heidenheim ended 0-1 (0-0).
Four Changes in the Starting XI
Torsten Lieberknecht has to change his starting lineup to four positions compared to the away win at 1. FC Köln. In addition to Aaron Seydel, Clemens Riedel and Klaus Gjasula, Matthias Bader is also out for the duel with 1. FC Heidenheim with a broken nose. Luca Pfeiffer, Christoph Zimmermann, Jannik Müller and Emir Karic move into the starting line-up to replace the injured quartet. Asaf Arania from the U19 is in the Lilies' competitive squad for the first time.
Matchday Compact: All Information for the Heidenheim game
After the away win in Köln now comes our home game with Heidenheim. On Sunday evening (April 28th/7:30pm) the SVD finally wants to win again in front of their own crowd. It is clear that this will not be an easy task against 1. FC Heidenheim, but Torsten Lieberknecht's team still wants to give the lily fans their second win in a row. Before the Bölle gets down to business, we will provide you with all the information about the duel between the Lilies and the guests from Heidenheim.
Figures & facts: The top facts about the Heidenheim game
Next Sunday (April 28th/7:30pm) SV Darmstadt 98 will face fellow promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim. After Torsten Lieberknecht's team finally celebrated another victory in the Rhineland last week, they should also be able to do it at home this week. With a win of their own and some help, the Heidenheimers could stay in the league three match days before the end. But before the Lilies meet Frank Schmidt and “his” Heidenheimers, you will find all the important facts about the game here. What gives hope for the second win in a row? What are the strengths of the people of Baden-Württemberg? And which lily became a professional in Heidenheim? You can find out in our top facts about the game.
“I still look forward to every matchday”
About the success in Köln, the upcoming duel with 1. FC Heidenheim (April 28th/7:30pm) and the staff: Torsten Lieberknecht answered questions about these and other topics at the press conference on Friday (April 26th). We have put together the most important statements from the head coach for you.
Organisational information for the home game against Heidenheim
On Sunday (April 28th/7:30pm) SV Darmstadt 98 welcomes 1. FC Heidenheim and asks you to pay attention to the following information.
Youth Performance Centre: Björn Müller remains sporting director
Continuity in the Lilies' Youth Performance Centre: Björn Müller has extended his contract as sporting director of the youth performance center (NLZ) for the long term. The new contract is now valid until June 30, 2027. Müller has been working in this position since June 2022.
Sports court ruling: SV 98 waives the appeal
In February, SV 98 lodged an objection against a ruling by the DFB sports court due to the use of pyrotechnic material over 43,000 euros (away game in Stuttgart on September 22, 2023) for fundamental reasons. This objection was rejected at a hearing on April 5th. In addition, in another case, SV 98 was fined 2,000 euros for unauthorised entry onto the pitch by several people at the home game against Leipzig (October 21, 2023). The SV 98 had already communicated to the oral hearing that the implementation of a possible appeal procedure would be dependent on the written reasons for the judgment.