Sports bankruptcy against Heidenheim
Fourth relegation in the fifth year – Darmstadt can no longer be saved
As of: 01:37 a.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Darmstadt 98 has been relegated from the Bundesliga three game days before the end of the season. The second promoted team, Heidenheim, is now only three points away from the European Cup after their late victory.
SV Darmstadt 98 was prematurely relegated from the Bundesliga. At the end of the 31st matchday on Sunday evening, the bottom team lost to 1. FC Heidenheim 0-1 (0-0) in their own stadium and can no longer keep the league mathematically. With three match days still remaining, the gap to relegation place 16 is eleven points. The Hessians remained winless for the 13th home game in a row. The goal for the guests from Baden-Württemberg, who were practically saved, was scored by Nikola Dovedan (90th).
“As a trained banker, you can now do a bit of calculation. It will be difficult to prevent relegation. But we’re not celebrating staying in the league today. We’ll do that if that’s really the case. But it was probably the last step. We stayed in with 37 points,” said Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt and turned his attention to the opponent. “We actually wanted to celebrate staying in the league together. We kind of wanted to do that after we left some big clubs behind us in the second division last year.”
For Darmstadt, the latest rise ends in a short interlude. This is the club’s fourth relegation in its fifth Bundesliga year. The Lilies have been in last place in the table since matchday 14. “It’s pretty empty inside at the moment,” said a dejected Fabian Nürnberger: “We had a few games in the season that we could perhaps have won on our side. But I don’t know if that would have made a difference.”
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Darmstadt’s new sporting director, Paul Fernie, made it clear before the game against Heidenheim that, from the club’s perspective, Torsten Lieberknecht should remain as coach in the 2nd league. “There are no question marks from my side when it comes to Torsten at the moment. We established a relationship on equal terms relatively quickly. We talk often and the conversations so far have been nothing but positive. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him,” said Fernie on the streaming service DAZN.
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“We knew this day would come. This is part of being an athlete. What matters is how we spend the next few days and weeks,” said Lieberknecht about the sealed relegation after the game: “But it also hurts that we are losing this game.”
Dovedan with the late shock
In any case, the Darmstadt team did not lack a fighting attitude in front of 17,416 spectators against Heidenheim. “For us it’s about us wanting to continue to show this attitude,” said Lieberknecht before kick-off. And his players didn’t miss this attitude on the pitch. Despite the almost hopeless situation before the game, the Lilies kept up with the Heidenheimers from the start.
In the 5th minute, Darmstadt’s Fabian Nürnberger had the first good opportunity of the game. His shot whizzed just over the visitors’ goal. The people of Heidenheim were also slowly approaching. First a shot from Tim Kleindienst went just wide of the goal (16th), then Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen defused a header from Patrick Mainka with a great reflex (26th).
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Almost in return, Nürnberger missed the lead again after strong dribbling and preparatory work by Luca Pfeiffer (27th). The midfielder’s shot once again narrowly missed the goal of Heidenheim’s keeper Kevin Müller. The Heidenheim team’s efficiency in the first half also left a lot to be desired. From a promising position, attacker Marvin Pieringer put his attempt next to the goal (37th).
The Darmstadt team didn’t give up and started the second half with a lot of momentum. Müller just cleared a shot from Tim Skarke for a corner (46′). The Heidenheimers then took control. Schuhen parried a powerful shot from Kleindienst (58th). In the 66th minute it was Nürnberger who had the Lilies’ lead again. Müller scratched his free kick from the corner. Oscar Vilhelmsson also failed from a tight angle against the strong FCH goalkeeper (76th). Dovedan then shocked the home side late on.
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With the win, Heidenheim is nine points and nine goals ahead of 16th place in the table, not only almost certain of staying in the league, but could even qualify for the European Cup. SC Freiburg in seventh place in the table is only three points away. “We have to leave the church in the village. Sure, if we jump on it at the end, why not. There are other teams there that have a bit more quality than us. We know where our place is,” said Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Müller.
