Off to the Rhine! The Lilies' next away duel is on Saturday (April 20/3:30pm). This time Torsten Lieberknecht's team is traveling to the Rhineland to play 1. FC Köln in Müngersdorf. But before the Darmstadt team go into another direct duel in the Bundesliga relegation battle in Köln, you will find all the important facts about the party here. What gives hope for the hoped-for victory? What are the strengths of 1. FC Köln? Which lily has the “goal of the month” in the Effzeh jersey; shot? You can find your journey in our top facts about the game.
Both teams have not only a similar table situation this season, but also an improved attacking record. The Effzeh is in 18th place in the league-wide statistics with 23 goals, the Lilien are in 16th place with 28 goals. So it is not surprising that the first leg at the Böllenfalltor ended 0-1. The fans shouldn’t expect a big goal spectacle in Müngersdorf on Saturday, even if Köln have scored in four of the last five games. Only against Bayern did they not score a goal; Effzeh had to admit defeat to the record champions 0-2.
When you look at the cross statistics, the values of the two teams differ completely. 1. FC Köln has already hit 381 crosses in the game, by far the highest number in the league. The Lilies, on the other hand, only managed 234 crosses this season and therefore have the second lowest league value. Extremely exciting: SVD has already scored seven goals from crosses, while Köln has only scored two. It will be seen on Saturday whether quality or quantity will prevail.
In the 1st Bundesliga, have met Darmstadt nine times so far, with seven wins and two draws. The Lilies‘ only win against Effzeh came in the 2018/19 second division season, with SVD winning 2-1 in Müngersdorf. On matchday 31, Felix Platte scored the winning goal in the 76th minute after Serdar Dursun had already given the 98ers the lead in the first half, Jhon Córdoba equalised in the meantime. Repetition? He wishes.
At least Torsten Lieberknecht doesn’t have to miss anyone with a suspension on Saturday. With Jannik Müller and Christoph Zimmermann, the Lilies have two players who currently have four warnings and therefore have to be careful. Köln don’t have any yellow-banned players either, but Denis Huseinbasic and Jan Thielmann also have two players with four yellow cards each.
SV Darmstadt 98 has four of these players in its squad. However, only Matthias Bader and Fabian Schnellhardt were used for the 1. FC Köln professionals. While the Lilies‘ right-back played a total of six times for Effzeh, the midfielder played one competitive game for Köln. Jannik Müller and Marcel Schuhen, on the other hand, only played in the youth and second teams of the club from the cathedral city. The SV 98 goalkeeper can even look back on a goal for 1. FC Köln: as an U19 goalkeeper, he scored a goal with a kick from his own penalty area. The goal was even voted “Goal of the Month” for March 2011 by ARD.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Goals | |
| Home | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3:15 |
| Away | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7:19 |
| Overall | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 10:34 |
On Saturday afternoon (May 4th/3:30pm) SV Darmstadt 98 VfL Wolfsburg will be guests. You can find all the important information for your visit to the Volkswagen Arena here. For spontaneous Lilien fans: There will be a box office in Wolfsburg.
Press conference in the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor. Before SV Darmstadt 98's upcoming away game at VfL Wolfsburg (May 4th/3:30pm), Torsten Lieberknecht took a seat in the PK room. The Lilien head coach answered questions about the rest of the season and the upcoming game. We have summarised the most important statements for you.
The new Sports Director is a guest at the Lilienschänke: On Monday (April 29th) the April fan evening of SV Darmstadt 98 took place with Paul Fernie – an entertaining, exciting evening. Meanwhile, the day before, the Lilies received a lot of encouraging messages via social media – including three former Darmstadt professionals. We also report on Asaf Arania's first appointment to the matchday squad and provide you with information about our fan team. You can find out all this in our weekly section “Lilies across the board”.
On the occasion of the confirmed relegation of the Lilies, the executive board of SV Darmstadt 98 addressed the public with an open letter.
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?
“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.”
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.