In the press conference before the second home game of the still young season, our head coach spoke about, among other things, our team's attacking play and the past week. As usual, you can find the most important statements before the match against Hannover 96 (August 30th/1:30pm) here for you.
Personnel update: In addition to the three long-term injured players Luca Marseiler, Fabian Nürnberger and Merveille Papela, Kai Klefisch (yellow-red suspension) and Fynn Lakenmacher (adductor problems) will not be available next Sunday.
It’s a very fitting symbol to do it the way the club has done it. And I believe that this ensures he will be remembered forever. He as a person, but also as a symbol of what he stood for: a fighter. Accordingly, it’s certainly something we will discuss with the players as well, because it’s quite different than just having his name above the South Stand, where some might not even know the story behind it. This placement makes it much more present.
The training week was really great. We shouldn’t overthink the cup win. But if you look at our performance over the 90 minutes, we honestly had a clear advantage in chances and didn’t really allow anything in the second half. It always feels a bit different after the game than when you review it calmly. When you look at how other teams from the same league played in the cup, they definitely gave other, equally renowned clubs more of a hard time. So, the win definitely gives us a boost. We won, which is always good; it provides confidence. It helps in this kind of process.
It will be particularly exciting because they are a team with very, very good individual quality, even if they lost some individual quality during the summer break. Of course, they’ve also brought in players like Hartel and Hugonet, who represent the absolute top level in this league. And they have a very specific style of football that I generally really like. I’ve said this before about the way Christian Titz has his teams play: very offensively, very aggressively. But this also creates opportunities – as we’ve seen in recent weeks, not only in the final weeks of this season but also in the final weeks of last season – to find spaces, punish defensive actions, and create dangerous scoring chances ourselves. Hannover’s approach is to control the game. That’s something that’s very, very difficult to achieve against Hannover, but which we essentially managed in the second leg last season, despite the 2-0 defeat.
At the start of the season, we said we needed to rebuild our attack. And we did that with complete conviction. Unfortunately, something happened in the first few games that wasn’t planned: our left-backs were unavailable, and recently it wasn’t possible to play with Hiro and Kai. That will be the case again now due to Kai’s suspension. So, to some extent, our focus in Jena was: how do we connect our play from back to front? And I felt that in the final third in Jena, we played much more clearly and purposefully going forward, creating chances, getting into the box, and generating scoring opportunities, especially in the first half. Therefore, it’s always a holistic approach that we need to discuss.
An emotional match with many controversial moments unfolded on Sunday afternoon at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. Ultimately, Darmstadt suffered their first home defeat of the young season. We've compiled the post-match reactions for you.
Tried everything, but to no avail: SV 98 came up short in their home game against Hannover 96. The final score was 1-0 (0-0) to the visitors, whilst the Lilies had to play with ten men after Vukotic was sent off in the 20th minute.
Home game against Hannover! On matchday 3, Darmstadt 98 will host the ambitious Lower Saxons at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. Florian Kohfeldt has made three changes to his starting lineup compared to the victory in Jena. Hiroki Akiyama replaces the suspended Kai Klefisch, while Nicolas Verkooijen (making his first start) and Yosuke Furukawa start in place of Carlo Sickinger and Manolo Merx.
Weekend, Lilies fever! On Sunday (August 30th/1:30pm), the Lilies have their third matchday on the schedule. Hannover 96, the club from the Lower Saxon capital, will be visiting the Bölle. What do the two head coaches have to say before kickoff? Who will be refereeing the match? And where can you watch the game? As usual, we've compiled all the important information about the match against Hannover in our "Matchday Guide"
One day before their home game against Hannover 96, Darmstadt 98 have announced another new signing. William Mikelbrencis will now wear the SV 98 jersey. The 22-year-old Frenchman was under contract with Hamburger SV until June 30th.
A second-division team on the Berlin Mount Olympus: Hannover 96 achieved something unique in 1992. On May 23, the Lower Saxony club defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the DFB Cup final, securing another major title in the club's history 38 years after their German championship win in 1954. Hannover became the first and, to this day, only "true" second-division team to win the DFB Cup, causing one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.
A special place of remembrance for one of the most famous Darmstadt fans. Before SV Darmstadt 98's home game against Hannover 96 on Sunday (August 30th), Jonathan Heimes Square at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor will be officially opened.
Darmstadt's league campaign resumes on Sunday (August 30th). Their opponent? Hannover 96! Hannover 96 have lost more often to Darmstadt than to any other team in the 2. Bundesliga. All the other facts and figures surrounding the match can be found here.
On Sunday (August 30, 2026, 1:30pm), SV 98 asks you to take note of the following information for the upcoming home game. Starting this season, we will be offering women's entrances at the west entrances. Additionally, there is a Bölle Bande family entrance with easier access at the Karl-Hess-Platz entrance.
In Wednesday's media briefing, Nicolas Verkooijen spoke about his Kickbase team, communication within the squad, and the intensive training in Germany. A former Darmstadt 98 player had the opportunity to compete against the best footballers, and we report on the historic stadium tour as part of the Bundesliga's founding anniversary celebrations. All the latest news from SV Darmstadt 98 can be found, as usual, in "Lilies Across the Board"
A journey to the roots of the Lilies: Where churches, residential buildings, or clubhouses stand today, Darmstadt football history was once written. To mark the Day of German Football History, 35 participants set out on a special tour of discovery aboard the professional team's bus—tracing the path from the early pitches of FK Olympia and SC Darmstadt to the club's current home at the Böllenfalltor.
Once again this season, our premium partner ENTEGA is creating unique stadium experiences. For every home match, you can win two VIP fan seats in the main stand and also gain access to the ENTEGA VIP Lounge. The application deadline for the match against Hannover is Thursday (August 27th) at 12pm.