Idid something break? And if so how much? A crushing 5-0 home defeat, like the one the “Lilien” suffered against Hamburger SV last weekend, makes a difference in a professional team. At best, the attitude prevails that after dark the sun will rise again, that an industrial accident of this magnitude has sharpened the senses.
Head coach Torsten Lieberknecht didn’t just want to routinely deal with the Darmstadt debacle of the previous week. “We see ourselves as hunters in this league, even from first place. But we didn’t embody that feeling against HSV. The rather reserved game doesn’t suit us,” said the player from the Palatinate on Friday.
Lieberknecht had sent the SVD pros into play with a more wait-and-see tactic. “Nobody had a good day, so I don’t rule myself out as a coach and the boys should know that from me,” said Lieberknecht. For the game at Hannover 96 this Sunday (1.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the 2nd Bundesliga and on Sky), in Lieberknecht’s eyes “not a blind rage, but a balanced” reaction should follow.
Although the field at the top of the second division has narrowed, the “lilies” still lead the tableau with 39 points from 21 games. In the HSV game, the southern Hesse team had not scored a goal for the first time in 18 games and played really badly for the first time this season. Away, they still look back on a super series of five wins in a row. “We are mentally too strong,” said captain Fabian Holland, for them to let what they have achieved so far be taken away so quickly.
Lieberknecht wants to keep it open whether he will send the losers from the weekend back into the race or whether the starting eleven will bring in fresh staff. After his recent effective appearances as a substitute, Mathias Honsak would be a candidate for a starting place on the left wing.
Opponent Hanover is in a relegation battle despite the well-known squad “for whatever reason” (Lieberknecht). Darmstadt’s last defeat in Lower Saxony dates back to 1992. Since then, the “lilies”, in whichever league they sometimes met, have always won with the same result: 2:1. If this were successful again, the “lilies” world would be in order again in no time after the bad setback.
