Just an industrial accident? The “lilies” in the 0:6 against Augsburg Image: Imago
After the shipwreck against Augsburg, Darmstadt 98 will hardly be able to avoid relegation. Why we’re going back to the second league – and what that means. Three questions – three answers.
Was that it?
If common football sense is anything to go by: yes. Anyone who wins two of 24 games and loses 15 is heading straight for direct relegation. Anyone who doesn’t win 17 Bundesliga games in a row and loses 6-0 to Augsburg in their own stadium will generally no longer be able to pull themselves together for the necessary great deeds. Especially since the fan riots after the fiasco against Augsburg revealed fault lines within the supporters.
The stigma of “designated relegation” now sticks to the people of Darmstadt. Which of course also offers opportunities: from outsider to absolute outsider. The “Lilien” can currently have two aspects to hope for before the herculean tasks in Leipzig this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) and at home against Bayern a week later: the historically favorable league constellation, that with a paltry 13 points we are still within reach of the relegation place.
