The inner workings of the team, the current training week and a further look at the upcoming away game in Leipzig (09.03./3.30pm): Torsten Lieberknecht answered questions about these and topics at the press conference on Thursday (7.3.). We have summarised the most important statements from the Darmstadt head coach for you.
Fraser Hornby is doing rehab in England. Marvin Mehlem and Clemens Riedel are doing the rehab here in our stadium. In addition, Matthias Bader, Fabian Holland and Fabian Nürnberger were also out. That means there are definitely five potential regular players missing. Matej Maglica suffered a minor injury during training yesterday. But I believe that he will be back in the final training session tomorrow. Back on the pitch are Fabian Schnellhardt and Braydon Manu, who have made a decent impression after their long-term injuries.
We discussed that we wanted to change a few things on the pitch independently of Leipzig. It’s about security and clarity. We stay with ourselves. There are no games in which we have nothing to lose. After all, it’s always about points. The challenge in Leipzig is as big as it gets. The most important thing will be how ready the boys are and to believe in the things that we have worked on with great concentration during the training week and to implement them on Saturday.
Leipzig had an unfortunate exit against Real Madrid yesterday. That says everything about the challenge we have before us. Leipzig has no weaknesses – and that is exactly their strength.
It wasn’t an easy week. I thought long and hard about how I would approach the team after this defeat. Which words do I choose? How did I – and that was my main task – get my team back together quickly? My feeling tells me that I succeeded quite well. We tried to change the rhythm of the training stage and the content this week. As we entered the training ground, each unit was carried out with even more concentration than usual.
The team and their coexistence are completely intact. When you go through as many negative moments as we did this season, it’s even more amazing how they support and lift each other up.
Everyone knows we messed up big time that day. They were individual blackouts that I have never experienced before. I spoke to the boys. But I also talked to the other guys who maybe didn’t make the obvious mistakes. Each individual wanted too much, too much. The boys put too much pressure on themselves. We worked through the game properly, but we can’t turn back the clock.
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).
