Childish joy or rather a sober look at the duel with the German record champions? Who is available for the Lilies for the game against FC Bayern Munich on Saturday (3/16/3:30 p.m.)? And what will it matter? Torsten Lieberknecht answered these and other questions at the pre-match press conference on Friday (March 15). We have typed down the most important statements from the Darmstadt head coach for you.
Marvin Mehlem, Matthias Bader, Fraser Hornby, Fabian Nürnberger and Clemens Riedel are out. Things are looking very good for Clemens. He has recovered well from his injury and is well ahead of schedule. The aim is for him to get back into team training soon. Matej Maglica had to sit out in Leipzig due to a calf problem, but returned to training this week. Braydon Manu has now trained with the team for the second week. Fabian Holland is also an option again.
Because of our situation, the childlike joy you get when playing against such an opponent is more muted for me. Nevertheless, it is a game that propelled us into this league. We wanted to be in this league because of teams like Bayern Munich. It’s a game that will present a huge challenge. That’s why I’m soberly looking forward to the game against Bayern. Of course it is something special to play against teams like Bayern Munich in the first division. But over the course of this season it has become somewhat normal to play against such opponents. Players shouldn’t be in awe. In the first leg we showed that we were brave in the first half.
It makes no sense to make big declarations of war. My boys are well prepared and know that they have to surpass themselves. I really liked our organisation and security in Leipzig. With the ball, the boys simply have to have more courage to get into better positional play. We’re hoping for the moments against Bayern where we want to have our chance. It is precisely in these moments that we have to show efficiency.
Both can take a lot from the game against Leipzig. Fabio is a boy from our own academy who has made his debut. After his short stints it was just his turn. He did a particularly good job defensively in conjunction with Oscar and was able to close a lot of spaces. On offense you could see that he still needs to pick up and work on things like physicality and assessing situations. Andi received a yellow card early on and was then limited against the Leipzig players. But for him, the starting eleven was a next step – a new, mental situation. When he starts again, he will be able to play the next game with more calm and experience. In Magdeburg he often played as a starting eleven, but in the first division it’s something different.
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).
