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SV Darmstadt 98 wants to be promoted to the Bundesliga against Greuther Fürth

Torsten Lieberknecht drew a somewhat crooked picture, but thematically from the living environment of the young men whom he professionally instructs and from whom he has been able to produce top performance for a long time. The Darmstadt coach compared the sporting situation with a situation in the discotheque. And that’s when you spot your dream woman there, but don’t dare to speak to her until you finally take heart.

“Just think of the girlfriend you spoke to back then,” he said to the pros in the dressing room. “Our friend is now the rise. So let’s pack up and get promoted!” To stay with the image, the “lilies” have already let the bride go twice. In what is now their third attempt, they finally want to win the second division game that is still needed to get the party going that Darmstadt 98 has been heading towards for months.

Lieberknecht made an emotional appearance at the press conference before the last home game of the season. Tenor: Now away with the fear of loss that has taken hold of the environment and back to the conquering spirit, with which the SVD achieved a total of 19 wins (only three defeats) between matchdays 2 to 30. “Have positive thoughts that we will make it,” said Lieberknecht. “Because I’m totally convinced of it. As Darmstadt 98 we have the opportunity to get promoted two games before the end. That’s awesome.”

Head will control legs

The promotion calculation is and remains simple: In order to settle it even on the penultimate matchday, you need a home win over 1. FC Magdeburg this Friday (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the second Bundesliga and on Sky). If Heidenheim loses on Saturday afternoon (against Sandhausen) or Hamburger SV doesn’t win on Saturday evening (against Fürth), a draw was enough for the southern Hessians to achieve the big goal.

Opponent Magdeburg is a promoted team that has recently and deservedly secured its place in the class, has scored eight points from the past four games and also turned out to be a factor in the promotion race: They won against the pursuers from Darmstadt (3: 2 against HSV ) and a draw (0:0 in Heidenheim).

That it tugs on the nerves of the SVD players to have missed the match points against St. Pauli (0:3) and in Hanover (1:2) without even being within reach of landing the one win that was still needed , is clear. There was and is still talk of ascent being “adjourned” or “postponed” by a week. But what if the Darmstadt team gambled away the originally almost perfect starting position, fell to the relegation rank and then certainly didn’t start the race as a favorite in the games against the Bundesliga sixteenth?

The head, you don’t need a prophetic gift for that, will control the legs more than ever. This team is home to plenty of professionals whose Bundesliga career dreams can most likely only be fulfilled right now and with this club. A constellation that increases the need to act at the end of a strong season for many.

The comfy approach of a club that was not among the first contenders for promotion and always had more to win than to lose is passé. Working and acting point by point and game by game – this attitude carried the “lilies” for a long time and brought them far. Despite being top of the table since the twelfth day of the game, Lieberknecht raised one phrase to the rank of a constant: “We remain hunters. Chasing points and victories.” This tale didn’t catch fire the moment the omens suddenly changed with the win in Kiel on Matchday 30.

“Lilies” have nothing planned

Against Magdeburg, a stringent performance from the start should relieve the psyche. “We want to get straight to work and not think football through too much,” said coach Lieberknecht. “We want to show what has made us excellent and strong all season – in other words, show exactly why our fans love us.”

In terms of personnel, the coach no longer has any trained strength for the right side in the squad due to the absence of Müller (muscle tear in the adductor area), Bader and Manu who have been suspended yellow-red and Ronstadt who has been injured for a long time. Only if the “lilies” have proven one thing in this round, then that they know how to compensate for personnel problems excellently.

Regarding any preparations for promotion celebrations, the SVD only says: nothing planned. Now the experience of the previous great days of the club’s recent history teaches that a successful party in Darmstadt does not require a great deal of guidance.

Incidentally, suspense-packed season finales with happy endings are a “lily” specialty. Just think of the relegation thriller in Bielefeld in 2014, the march through to the Bundesliga in 2015, which was secured with a 1-0 win on the last day of the game, and staying in the class there on the penultimate day of 2016. In the following years in the second division, there was a risk of falling into the third division – especially in 2018, when the SVD was only able to avert the nightmare scenario on the last day of the game.

Such a final act is now also needed in May 2023. In order to win the dream woman called Ascent as a dance partner on Friday evening – and to start a Darmstadt party weekend.

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