The Darmstadt coach Florian Kohfeldt is expecting a completely open cup duel against Schalke 04. It is particularly important to him that things really get down to business in his heartfelt competition.
You would have to be a little worried about the integrity of this jewel box called Bölle, at least if you actually took the football-playing wrecking balls of Darmstadt 98 at their word. The professional footballers have an idea of what will await them, the fans and the home stadium on Wednesday evening (from 8.45 p.m.) in the second round duel of the DFB Cup against FC Schalke 04: a real test of endurance. “The ball will burn,” trumpeted defender Matej Maglica via the club’s own media, which his colleague Marcel Schuhen verbally flanked as follows: “I assume that our fans will tear the hut apart.”
Of course, this kind of rhetoric shouldn’t cause anyone to gasp in fear, the metaphorical meaning of the statements can be clearly filtered out, but the thrust of the evening is obvious: it’s likely to be intense on the lawn, probably heated at times, nerve-wracking anyway. Or as Lilien coach Florian Kohfeldt said the day before the encounter: “We are all extremely motivated to deliver a really great cup fight.”
Kohfeldt’s love for the DFB Cup
With Schalke, the Lilies are in for a big deal, not just because of the royal blue tradition, but especially in view of the current performance level of the guests. S04 have won the last five competitive games and are leading the second division. In particular, after many years of individual dabbling, the Gelsenkirchen team is once again appearing as a close-knit collective and is therefore extremely successful. He felt “pure anticipation” before the duel, said Kohfeldt, who called it a “50:50 game”.
This is at least remarkable in this respect, as the Lilies have not been able to win the last three league games and have already been in better form this season. But Kohfeldt gives the all-clear: “We are fully within ourselves and not off track.” For himself, the coach draws great motivation from the cup: “I am very much in love with this competition.” He also wants to convey this “extremely high importance” to the team. “There are a lot of ingredients for a cool cup night,” said the coach. Similar to Kohfeldt, his Schalke counterpart, coach Miron Muslić, spoke almost at the same time: “We are fully in cup mode and are incredibly looking forward to the fight.”
Lidberg will probably return to the starting eleven
Last week at Schalke, the Darmstadt team showed a pretty weak performance, They deservedly lost the second division duel (0:1)which not only had to do with the personnel situation, but also. For the first time in this round, the Lilies had to do without more or less indispensable players. The full-backs Fabian Nürnberger and Sergio Lopez, midfield organizer Kai Klefisch and striker Isac Lidberg were unavailable. It was only logical that this became noticeable. Defensively, the South Hessians were still able to gather compactly, but little succeeded offensively.
The good news from Hesse’s perspective: Three of the four professionals mentioned are there this time, only Nuremberger is still missing. It is not unlikely that Lopez, Klefisch and Lidberg will all find themselves in the starting eleven. With regard to the recently ill Swedish attacker, who has already scored eight goals this season, Kohfeldt said: “As of now, I am assuming that Isac is in the starting line-up.”
Kohfeldt: “We have to be determined”
Anyone who listened to the Darmstadt professionals after the Schalke defeat at the weekend was told one thing several times: there will be less of a focus on tactics this Wednesday. Sure, a three-man or four-man chain, pressing high or standing low, possession of the ball or counterattack – all essential parts of the game, but in the end the winner on Wednesday will probably be determined primarily by factors such as intensity, nerves and luck in the game.
“We have to be determined and dare to do something,” demands Kohfeldt, “that is our claim.” So that the fire burns and can be demolished – only figuratively, logically.
This is how the lilies could start
This is how the Lilies could play against Schalke.
