A bitter end in Karlsruhe: After 90 entertaining minutes in which both teams sought salvation in attack, Darmstadt suffered a narrow defeat. The final score was 2-1 after a late goal from the home side, following Isac Lidberg's earlier equaliser. After the match, the players were particularly frustrated with the missed opportunities in the first half.
„Congratulations to KSC on their home win. We played an incredibly good game, considering what was possible today. We had to start with five players in unfamiliar positions after Matej Maglica and Sergio Lopez were ruled out in yesterday’s final training session. We had to play with a back three that hadn’t played together before, and especially with two players, Fabian Holland and Kai Klefisch, who don’t usually play in those positions. My special praise goes to Fabi, who did a fantastic job as a left-sided centre-back. We played a superb first half, with good structure on the ball, created scoring opportunities, and controlled the game. We should have taken the lead with the two chances from Marco Richter and Hiroki Akiyama. In the second half, KSC came out stronger after the break, and we eased off a bit. Even after conceding, we showed incredible fighting spirit. In the end, it’s obviously very bitter to lose due to such a late situation. I’m proud of my team, even if that doesn’t lessen the pain today. Of course, we’re disappointed that we’re now mathematically relegated.“ We can no longer reach the top three places. We dropped points at the wrong time of the season. There are multiple reasons for this, which we will address during the summer break. We will give everything we can to finish the season with positive results. Because the fans, the club, and we ourselves deserve that.”
„When I list all the absences in the Darmstadt squad and then see how much game understanding and intelligence they display on the pitch, it’s truly impressive. They’re so passionate about football and do so many things right. Darmstadt dominated the first half and should have taken the lead. We were allowed to stay in the game and then addressed a couple of things at halftime. We’ve been close to getting something to show for it for a long time in recent weeks, but the team is incredibly hardworking, and today we finally finished off our attacks. We like it when the game gets a bit more chaotic. That’s why I’m proud that we won today’s match. Kudos to your team, Flo: you’re a joy to watch, you’ve laid a fantastic foundation.“
„It feels awful. We just couldn’t bring our power to the pitch again. Of course, you can talk about who was missing today. But I won’t allow any excuses. We were good in the first half, we were good in the spaces. At times, we held onto the ball for too long; we should have moved it faster. KSC offered us those spaces, but we couldn’t exploit them. Up front, we’re perhaps lacking a bit of conviction at the moment, the conviction to put the ball in the back of the net. Nevertheless, I have to say we gave it our all. You can see how exhausted everyone is and how they threw themselves into every challenge. But it just wasn’t enough again today; it’s emblematic of the last few weeks. But we still have two games left, and in those, it’s a matter of giving everything we’ve got.“
„We should have taken a clear lead in the first half, because then the game would have gone in a different direction. Be more efficient and keep going, it’s that simple. We had a bit less control in the second half, but it’s frustrating that we didn’t take the lead in the first 45 minutes. Regardless of the league table: our job was to get three points, and we didn’t do that. Sure, we had some players out, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. The players who were available were up to the task; otherwise, they wouldn’t be playing for Darmstadt 98. We could have won with today’s starting eleven, which makes it all the more frustrating.“
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).
