Bundesliga bottom club Darmstadt 98 will also have to do without eight potential regular players in the last game of the year at TSG Hoffenheim.
“No one will come back who was missing against Wolfsburg,” complained coach Torsten Lieberknecht: “It will now be the same squad as against VfL.” Nevertheless, “giving up is not an option”, on Tuesday (8:30 p.m./Sky) the team has to invest everything for three points.
After eight league games without a win, he held the players accountable. “Everyone has to get the most out of themselves. I miss that every now and then. I told them that very sharply,” said Lieberknecht. The 50-year-old explained that sometimes “the boys are a little too fond of him,” and “one or two of them” can “get out of their skin sometimes. Overall, the boys should tear themselves up even more.”
Despite these points of criticism, his team has played “many games” in the last few weeks “that we could have finished with points,” said Lieberknecht: “With the exception of Leverkusen and Bayern, we always had our opportunities. We showed that we had a real chance We will do everything we can to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Fabian Holland, Frazer Hornby, Braydon Manu, Marvin Mehlem, Fabian Nürnberger, Aaron Seydel, Oscar Vilhelmsson and Christoph Zimmermann will be missing.